ROCHESTER, Mich. – The Horizon League semi finals Thursday night at the Oakland Soccer Stadium was bitter cold with snow flakes earlier.
The weather confirmed that winter is here. However, the fact that bears hibernate in the winter clearly does not hold true for the Golden Grizzlies of Oakland. Also fitting to their name was the fashion in which No. 1 Oakland won the game, with a golden goal in double overtime against No. 3 Cleveland State to win 2-1.
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Head coach Eric Pogue not only earned his Coach of the Year honors from the regular season but is showing in this tournament why it was well-earned, and why his team is the No. 1 seed.
"Tonight's performance by our team epitomizes what Oakland men's soccer is all about," said Pogue. "We faced adversity by going 1-0 down in the first half to an excellent Cleveland State team. At half time we addressed some key tactical points and, as usual, the team responded by playing arguably the best second half of the season. Coming back to win the game late in overtime is no shock to me or our staff because these young men have so much passion and spirit."
Junior forward Gerald Ben scored the dramatic winning goal with just 35 seconds left in double overtime and before penalty kicks would have begun. Ben has just gotten into the game when he connected on a ball from John DeLeon and slotted it into the back of the net which not only elevated the score and win for the Grizzlies but also the team and the fans! Ben is familiar with pressure and the post season pressure as he faced it with the PDL Michigan Bucks team during the offseason in which they won the National Championship game in Pontiac Michigan in August.
The Vikings took the lead in the 33rd minute when Sergio Maesio took a shot inside the box and into Freshman Goalkeeper Wes Mink's next. The equalizer for Oakland came when after a Cleveland State foul they were awarded a free kick at the top of the box in the 72nd minute. The Vikings watched and anticipated Matt Dudley to make the kick but as he ran past the ball Gavin Hoy stepped up and found the back of the net. Mink and the backline fought hard to keep the net from being invaded further and the Grizzlies never gave up attempting to pierce the Vikings net over and over again.
Wright State is the No. 3 seed and also earned the right to play in the final game when they defeated No. 2 seed University of Detroit Mercy 2-0 on Thursday night.
"We have earned the opportunity to play in the championship game on Saturday night on our home field in front of our family, friends and fans with a chance to win a Horizon League tournament and a berth to the NCAA Tournament, something we earned by winning a regular-season title" said Pogue. "We face a very tough Wright State team, they are very talented and well coached. We are extremely proud of our men, but our mission is not yet complete."
Oakland looks to finish their mission tomorrow evening at their home field when they face Wright State at 6 p.m. in the Horizon League Championship game.
Admission is $5 for adults and $3 for children 12-and-under. Students of Horizon League schools get into all of the games for free with their student ID cards.
Every Horizon League Men's Soccer Championship matchup can be seen on the Horizon League network as well as on ESPN3 with Oakland's Neal Ruhl on the call.