By: Andrew Gavin (@GBGavin)
GREEN BAY, Wis. (GreenBayPhoenix.com) – Seniors Sabastian Xiong (Cottage Grove, Wis.) and Sam Krenzien (Wauwautosa, Wis.) both found the back of the net on their Senior Day at Aldo Santaga Stadium, but visiting Oakland (6-6-5, 4-2-1 HL) scored three first-half goals and stole a 3-2 victory at Green Bay (7-6-3, 2-3-1 HL) in Horizon League men's soccer action on Saturday afternoon.
Green Bay jumped out with a couple of early opportunities on Saturday, but both Krenzien and junior Lawrence Talery (Coon Rapids, Minn.) were unable to tally goals. Oakland, playing their first season as a Horizon League member, responded with a flurry.
A foul in the box gave Oakland's Joey Tinnion a penalty kick in the eighth minute. Freshman keeper Kyle Ihn (Wales, Wis.) was up to the challenge with a diving save, but Tinnion corralled the rebound and scored for a 1-0 lead.
The Golden Grizzlies had two more goals in a five-minute stretch midway through the first half to move in front 3-0 by the 24th minute.
Just 34 seconds after falling behind 3-0, Green Bay received a penalty kick of its own in the 25th minute. Xiong stepped up and took the kick, and his strike was too tough for Oakland keeper Sean Lewis. Xiong improved to 3-for-3 on the season on penalty kicks with his fifth marker of his senior campaign.
After four combined goals in the opening 25 minutes, the next 59-plus minutes would feature scoreless action as Green bay remained in a 3-1 hole. In the 84th minute, Krenzien collected the ball above the box, dribbled into space and fired a beautiful shot with his left foot to beat Lewis. The goal was the 11th of the season for Krenzien to tie Milwaukee's Laurie Bell for the Horizon League lead.
The Phoenix kept the pressure on looking for the equalizer in the final five minutes, but the Golden Grizzlies survived an onslaught of Green Bay pressure to claim the road victory.
The two teams each took 13 shots in the contest while Green Bay held a 5-3 advantage in corner kicks. Ihn stopped six shots in the net for the Phoenix while his counterpart Lewis made four stops.
Green Bay will finish the 2013 regular season away from home next Saturday, Nov. 9, traveling to Chicago to face Horizon League regular season champion UIC at 1 p.m.
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