Freshman Miche'le Lipari had a goal and an assist to spark the Oakland University men's soccer team to a 4-0 victory over IPFW at Hefner Stadium on Friday. The Golden Grizzlies improve to 2-5 for the season and open 1-0 in the Summit League, while the Mastodons fall to 2-7 and are 0-1 in the league.
Lipari opened the scoring for the Golden Grizzlies in the 34th minute on a shot from inside the 18-yard area. Sophomore Tommy Catalano made a good pass to pick out Lipari and the freshman finished the chance for his first collegiate goal. Oakland was not done scoring though, as Jon Evans added a second goal less than two minutes later. Junior goalkeeper Mitch Hildebrandt started the play with a long drop-kick and Evans was first to the ball and chipped it over the on-rushing IPFW goalkeeper.
Senior Makesi Lewis added his name to the goal-scoring list with a penalty kick goal in the 55th minute. Junior Jake Przbycien then closed out the scoring with a headed goal from a Lipari cross in the 61st minute. The Golden Grizzlies outshot the Mastodons 13-9 and held a 7-5 edge in shots on goal.
In addition to picking up the rare assist on the second goal, Hildebrandt had a strong game in net for OU. The junior `keeper made five saves, including a penalty kick save to preserve his ninth career shutout. Donovan Downling had three saves for IPFW in the loss.
The match was a battle on the field with the teams combining for 41 total fouls. Both teams had players sent off with red cards. IPFW's Mike Enghofer was dismissed in the 16th minute for a bad challenge, while a bad tackle also earned OU's Andrew Derayeh a straight red as well in the 71st minute.
"We have had some close losses recently, so it was nice to see our hard work pay off with some efficient finishing tonight," said Pogue. "I think this helps the team understand why we play such a tough non-conference schedule to prepare for Summit League-play."
The defending regular-season champions of the Summit League, Oakland extended its streak of consecutive victories in conference opening games. The streak dates back to 1999 when the school joined the ranks of NCAA Division I. The Golden Grizzlies went 1-2 against teams in the top 25 as part of a tough non-league schedule leading up to the league opener. The four goals on Friday more than doubled OU's goal scoring total for the season, as the team has had seven different goal scorers.
Oakland will take a break from conference play with a match on Wednesday at Dayton at 7 p.m. The Golden Grizzlies will then get back to Summit League play on Saturday with a road match at IUPUI.