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ROCHESTER, Mich. - The IUPUI men's soccer team endured a day of frustration in the opening match of the 2008 Summit League Tournament, falling to top seeded Oakland at the OU Soccer Field, 4-0. The Jaguars trailed 3-0 at halftime and were outshot 13-8 on the day.
The defeat ended IUPUI's season at 8-9-2 while Oakland advances to The Summit League championship game, set for Sunday at noon.
"We just didn't have it today," IUPUI Head Coach Steve Franklin said. "We had some energy early, but the air went out of our sails once we got behind. They had us chasing the game after that.
"And credit Gary Parsons and his boys. They've got a really good team and should they make the NCAA Tournament, they'll represent our league well."
OU's Stefan St. Louis dismantled the IUPUI defense with his runs up the right side, setting up two goals and drawing a penalty kick that led to a third for the Golden Grizzlies.
Piotr Nowak put Oakland on the board in the 23rd minute when he rolled a shot through traffic, beating a diving Francisco Maia to his right. St. Louis setup the goal by shifting a pass to Novak, who was stationed straight away, about 30 yards from goal.
The Golden Grizzlies (14-4-0), which entered play ranked No. 30 nationally, made it 2-0 with just over 17 minutes left in the first half when Tom Catalano drove a penalty kick just inside the right post. St. Louis drew the PK when he was blatantly pulled down inside the right side of the IUPUI 18-yard box.
Oakland continued to pour it on when Makesi Lewis drilled a blast past Maia with under three minutes left in the first half to make it 3-0. Sebastian Harris capped the game's scoring in the 50th minute when he completed a give-and-go with St. Louis for his fifth score of the season.
St. Louis led all players with four shots while Perez Agaba and Javier Portillo tried two each for the Jags. Agaba had two of IUPUI's best scoring chances of the day.
Less than four minutes in, Agaba rifled a shot high of frame after working in behind the OU defense. Two minutes later, Dan Heidari got free between OU's center backs but saw his header fly left of the net after freshman Matt Guy had bent a cross in his direction. In the waning minutes, Agaba had a ground ball shot skate just left of the far post to keep the OU shutout intact.
OU senior goalkeeper Steve Clark made two saves in the victory while Maia made four stops for IUPUI.
Friday's match marked the final career game for six IUPUI seniors including center backs Ben Heidari and Dan Heidari, both of whom earned All-League honors while at IUPUI. The duo combined to make 115 starts during their four-year careers.
It was also the final game for Ryan Brumbaugh, Nick Lance, Cameron Williams and Maia.
