Oakland University

Dec. 18, 2011

ROCHESTER, Mich. -- With a run to the NCAA Tournament, the 2011 Oakland women's soccer team continued to build on the program's history of success. The Golden Grizzlies won the seventh Summit League Championship in program history and advanced to the NCAA Tournament for a sixth time in the last 11 years. Every four-year class at OU has played in at least one NCAA Tournament.

"I am very happy that these seniors were able to make it into the [NCAA] Tournament this season," said head coach Nick O'Shea. "They are a great senior class, with some tremendous talent, leaders and hard workers. It was good to see it pay off for them this year."

The Golden Grizzlies managed to peak at the right time in 2011, winning the final five matches of the regular season as part of a seven-match winning-streak to end the year. Oakland outscored opponents 22-5 during that seven-match run.

As the hosts, Oakland ran through the Summit League Tournament, upsetting top-seeded South Dakota State 1-0 in the semifinals, before winning the title with a 2-1 win over second-seeded North Dakota State. The Golden Grizzlies became the first team in Summit League history to win the championship as a No. 4-seed.

At the NCAA Tournament, OU faced a tough task by playing at No. 1 Wake Forest. Boosted by a career-high 13 saves from goalkeeper Anne Berschbach, the Golden Grizzlies kept it a one-goal match into the 80th minute and put on a good showing in the eventual 2-0 loss at WFU.

For the season, Berschbach led The Summit League with a .854 save percentage, which ranked in the top 30 nationally. She was second in the league with a .880 goals-against average, which was 62nd-best in the NCAA. She also finished the year with 76 saves and had five of the team's seven shutouts. Payj O'Shea also saw significant time in goal making 34 saves and recording one shutout.

Offensively, Meghan Reynolds found her scoring touch later in the season to lead OU with eight goals during the season. Reynolds was second in The Summit League in scoring to lead an Oakland squad that led the league in team assists (30) and was second in total goals (34) and points (98).

Serena San Cartier added five goals and five assists during the season, while Kyla Kellermann had five goals in her freshman campaign. Julianne Boyle, Nicole DeLuca and Amy Trandell each added two goals for the year. DeLuca equaled San Cartier with a team-high five assists.

OU was helped by a solid defense, led by All-Summit League first team pick Kara Weber. Alissa Beeman and captain Jessica Conrad were also key fixtures in the defense, along with Alyssa Fulton, Katrina Stencel and Kourtney Grant.

The team featured six seniors: Shannon Doyle, Sarah Lynch, Conrad, Beeman, Trandell and Berschbach.

The Golden Grizzlies finished the season 10-11-1 and were 6-3-1 in Summit League Play. The team tied for third place in the league regular season standings.

OU will look to become the first team to defend a league title since the Golden Grizzlies did it during the 2006-07 seasons.

-OAKLAND-