Rochester, Mich. – The Golden Grizzlies faced-off with the Toldeo Rockets in their final non-conference home game in a close, down-to-the-wire game.
Toledo came out of the gate with aggression. The Rockets took three shot attempts within the first three minutes of the first half and made the Golden Grizzlies work for a chance to have possession in Toledo territory.
Midfielder Thai Quallich found herself in Toledo's box with the ball after an Oakland free kick and took a powerful shot at Toledo's goal in the ninth minute. With the Rockets' defense in a daze, the ball rattled off the right post before doing the same on the left post before Toledo goalkeeper Agnes Stenlund collected the ball.
Toledo continued to have many chances throughout the first half. Still, despite having multiple opportunities to put one in the back of the net, the Golden Grizzly defense remained tough and sturdy, disallowing a Toledo goal for the rest of the half. Notably, Oakland goalkeeper Julia Zangerl had three saves in the first.
At the half, the Rockets led the Golden Grizzlies in shots taken with eight, shots on goal with three, and corners with five. In comparison, Oakland had four shots, with just one shot on goal and just a single corner, yet the game remained knotted with no goals on either side.
In the second half, the Golden Grizzlies responded with much more desperation and passion. A slow measured approach from the first half took a step up as Oakland played long passed and sped behind the Toldeo defense on several occasions. As a result, Isabella Bierod and Frankie Mudd got some early shots off in the first five minutes of the half.
With a new wave of energy behind the Golden Grizzlies, Toledo had a much harder time putting together offensive chances. Putri Sazali and the rest of the Oakland defense were much quicker to shut down the Rockets' offensive attacks compared to the first half.
In the 77th minute of the game, Toledo midfielder Alli Macbeth broke the dry spell on the scoreboard, finding the back of the Oakland net to give the Rockets a late 1-0 lead. The goal was Macbeth's first of the season and her second in a Rockets uniform.
The Golden Grizzlies responded to the Toledo goal in the 87th minute with a shot from Mudd. However, Stenlund saved Mudd's shot, which was sailing to the lower left part of the goal. The shot from Mudd, her eleventh on the day and a career-high, was the final shot the Golden Grizzlies could fire off as they fell 0-1.
At the end of the match, Oakland had the volume advantage in shots (15-to-13), but Toledo had upper hand in efficiency with more shots on goal (5-to-4) and corners (7-to-3). Although Oakland lost the game, this matchup against the Rockets showed that the Golden Grizzlies were not allergic to some critical game-changing halftime adjustments and are continuing to put together strong performances as the season moves on.
"That was a tough one, but that's soccer. I thought we deserved the result. It was a great performance from start to finish," said Oakland Head Coach Devin Zvosec. "We created a lot of high quality chances and defended very well. We hit the post twice & had a couple of 1v1 moments with the keeper. One mistake made the difference. This is a young team so there are growing pains but each week the team is getting better. Proud of the effort, energy and attitude today."
Next on the agenda is Oakland's trip to Ohio to face the Bowling Green Falcons on Thursday, Sept. 12, at 7 p.m.
Comments