Oakland University women's soccer dropped its first game of the 2026 season Sunday, Aug. 16, falling 3-0 to the University of Akron at FirstEnergy Stadium.

The loss evens the Golden Grizzlies' record at 1-1 after they blanked Mercyhurst 3-0 in the Aug. 13 opener.

Goalkeeper Norah Schmidt kept Oakland in the game as long as she could, making nine saves on 20 shots faced. It wasn't enough. Akron's Rachel Wenzel opened the scoring in the 33rd minute, and Emma Ogdahl doubled the lead in the 42nd off an assist from Callee DalBon to send Oakland into halftime down 2-0. Wenzel added her second in the 77th minute, assisted by Olivia Pilato.

Oakland came out pressing early. Forward Lilly Boebel tested Akron goalkeeper Sara Bower with a shot just two minutes in, and Schmidt answered at the other end, denying Akron's Allie McMillen in the 13th minute to keep the game scoreless.

A weather delay of nearly an hour halted play in the 22nd minute. When the teams returned, Akron found its footing first. Wenzel broke the deadlock 11 minutes later, and the Zips never looked back.

Oakland managed six shots in the match, four on target. Forward Bailey Giddings fired two shots in the second half but couldn't put either on frame, while Mallory Anderson found the target on both of her attempts, and defender Morgan Malek added a shot on goal, but none beat Bower. Anderson scored the extra-time goal that clinched Oakland's first Horizon League Tournament win since 2021 during last year's postseason, but she and the rest of the attack could not find a breakthrough Sunday.

The Golden Grizzlies return to Rochester for their home opener Thursday, Aug. 20, against Bowling Green at Oakland Soccer Field. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m., according to the university's athletics site.