Box Score

Senior Day Photo Gallery

DETROIT – Senior Ken Simon (Brighton, Mich./Brighton) and junior Ya Ya Toure (Ypsilanti, Mich./Willow Run) each found the back of the net on Wednesday afternoon giving the Titans a 2-1 overtime win over the Oakland Golden Grizzlies.

Simon scored his second goal of the season on senior day to give Detroit a 1-0 advantage late in the first half. Detroit (8-7-2) once again took advantage of a throw-in to score the goal. Freshman #Adam Bedell# (Livonia, Mich./Churchill) took the throw-in and found Pat Lepera (Windsor, ON/St. Joseph's Catholic) in the middle of the field. Lepera flicked the ball to Simon who fired a shot to the top right corner of the net from 10 yards out. Bedell has been a serious weapon for the Titans due to his throw-in ability. He now leads the team with eight assists on the year.

Lepera wasn't finished after one assist, as the sophomore picked up his second of the game on the winning goal. Lepera sent a long ball down the middle of the field to a waiting Toure. Toure collected the ball and fired it home from 15 yards out. Toure now has a team-high eight goals heading into the season finale.

“Oakland is a very good soccer team, and it's nice to get a quality win over a rival,” head coach #Nicholas Deren# said after the game. “Oakland brings a lot of talented players to the table,” Deren added. “They are dangerous because they have game changing players. Our defensive shape was good today, and because of that we limited their opportunities.”

The Golden Grizzlies were able to send the game into overtime with a goal late in the second half. Makesi Lewis initiated the pressure on goalkeeper Brandon Waterstradt (Dearborn Heights, Mich./Detroit Catholic Central) with a shot that deflected off the keeper and hit the crossbar, putting the ball back into play. Garth McClellan connected on a header to tie the game at 1-1 in the 88th minute of play. McClellan had just checked into the game before he scored his third goal of the year for Oakland.

Waterstradt didn't see much action as he ended the game with one save. The Detroit offense helped that cause by outshooting Oakland 18-10, including a 14-4 mark after the first period.

“Offensively we were sharp in transition,” Deren said. “We were able to build our outside backs into the game to create opportunities in the flanks.”

Detroit will look to take this momentum into the season finale on Saturday. The Titans will take on Valparaiso in Horizon League action beginning at 8:00 p.m.