ROCHESTER, Mich. - In dire need of a Horizon League result, the IU Indianapolis men's soccer team came up short on the road at Oakland on Saturday (Sept. 26), falling to the Golden Grizzlies, 1-0. The lone goal came on a Christopher Jean Leger blast in the 84th minute off a short corner kick, giving the hosts the win.
The tally was the lone blemish on an otherwise brilliant day for freshman goalkeeper
Peter Field, who closed with eight stops in the loss.
"It's a disappointing result after the boys fought hard for 90 minutes. The desire is there and we are working incredibly hard," head coach
Keegan Boom said. "The margins in the Horizon League are small so we have to keep our chins up, bounce back, and get all the little things right going into the next game."
Oakland (3-2-3, 2-0-2 HL) built the winner off a quick corner kick, eventually feeding Leger just inside the corner of the 18-yard box. Leger spun a fired a tracer just under the bar for his third tally of the season.
Earlier in the half, Field had dazzled with a pair of stellar saves against OU's Cal Kurzawa in the 70th minute, keeping the sheet clean.
Oakland closed with a 17-8 shot advantage and 9-3 margin in shots on goal. However, the Jags weren't without looks.
Both teams had first half chances go by the boards, in large part due to fantastic goalkeeping. The Jaguars built an array of opportunities, largely on the strength of
Santiago Sanchez's creativity in the midfield and
Nathaniel Isom's speed on the outside. IU Indy's best scoring chances came in the 33rd minute when
Christian Nielsen had a grounded attempt saved by OU keeper Cole Thompson. The rebound popped back to Nielsen, who had his header cleared off the back line by a defender for a corner kick.
Oakland outshot the Jaguars 9-4 before intermission with the best effort being a Zach Townsend header in the 40th minute that was hit directly at Field for a brilliant reaction save.
Sanchez had a team-high three shot attempts and Nielsen and
Luke Kegerreis had two apiece.
The Jaguars will return to action on Saturday, Oct. 3 when they trek to Cleveland State for a 7:00 p.m. kickoff on ESPN+.
