OU Defeats Milwaukee in 3-2 Thriller
Senior Stefan St. Louis scored two goals for the Golden Grizzlies, including the game-winner, helping the Oakland University men’s soccer team (3-3-1) snap a three-game skid to defeat tournament host Milwaukee (1-6-0) 3-2 Sunday afternoon at the Panther Invitational at Englemann Field.
“It was a good win for us today,” said head coach Eric Pogue. “We talked about matching their energy at halftime and I don’t think we played as good of a second half as we did the first. But we found a way to battle back after they tied the game up.”
Oakland scored the first goal of the contest in the early part of the first half when freshman Shane Lyons sent the ball sailing from about eight feet out to bring the score to an early 1-0 Oakland lead at 13:43. Sophomore Winston Henderson and freshman Johnny Dreshaj were credited with the assist.
Just before the half expired at 44:05, St. Louis juked around several opponents to send the ball past the Milwaukee goalkeeper to bring the score to 2-0 and gave St. Louis his second goal of the season.
In the second half, the Panthers got on the scoreboard at the 50:22 mark when Robert Refai cleaned up on a blocked shot from five yards out to cut Oakland’s lead to 2-1.
At 78:34, the Panthers struck again when Greg Rosenthal rebounded a blocked shot and sent the ball to the far post, squaring the match up at 2-2 with just over 10 minutes remaining in the second half.
Just over a minute later at 79:44, St. Louis scored his second goal of the contest when he picked up on a deflection in front of the net and finished the attack from close range to bring the game to a 3-2 score. The Chaguanas, Trinidad native’s goal would end up being the game-winner, leading OU to the thrilling victory.
St. Louis and senior defender Machel James both represented the Golden Grizzlies on the All-Tournament team.
“Today’s win was definitely a step in the right direction and getting back to our winning ways,” said Pogue. “Now is the time to learn from our mistakes and prepare for our biggest game of the season when we start our conference season against Oral Roberts.”
The Panthers held the advantage in shots, 17-11, though the Golden Grizzlies fired more on goal, 7-6. OU also committed fewer fouls, registering 12 compared to Milwaukee’s 15. Sophomore goalkeeper Mitch Hildebrandt made four saves for Oakland.
The Golden Grizzlies will return home to the friendly confines of the OU Soccer Field on Friday, Sept. 25 in a Summit League matchup against Oral Roberts. The match is scheduled for a 4 p.m. start and can be followed on Gametracker at www.ougrizzlies.com.