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The Oakland University women's soccer program has a history of winning. A large part of that winning history is associated with Nick O'Shea who has racked up 179 career wins in 16 seasons with the program. Entering his 17th season as OU's head soccer coach in 2010, O'Shea has firmly established himself as one of the most successful head coaches in any sport at OU with a.608 career-winning percentage (179-105-15) and having guided his teams to at least a share of seven regular season league titles in OU's 11 seasons in the league, the Golden Grizzlies have also captured six league tournament titles and have made five appearances in the NCAA tournament.
Oakland's most recent league title and NCAA Tournament appearance came in the 2007 season when the Golden Grizzlies appeared in the Summit League championship game for the seventh time in eight seasons and came away with their sixth title with a 3-1 defeat of Western Illinois. The win marked OU's second consecutive league tournament title, and also their second consecutive tournament championship win over Western Illinois. OU advanced to the NCAA tournament against Purdue, holding the Boilermakers scoreless in the first half before Purdue scored four second-half goals to pull away from the Golden Grizzlies.
The Golden Grizzlies also picked up a share of the league regular season title during the 2008 season, the eighth time since joining the league. However, the team eventually fell to South Dakota State in The Summit League title match.
The 2009 Oakland team finished the season 7-9-1 and just missed making The Summit League Tournament.
OU won the final Mid-Continent Conference title with an elimination of Western Illinois on penalty kicks after the two squads battled to a 1-1 tie. At the NCAA Tournament OU drew top-seed Notre Dame and were within a goal of the Fighting Irish early in the second half before ND pulled away. Under O'Shea's tutelage, Oakland produced both the Mid-Con's Offensive and Defensive Players of the Year in 2006.
O'Shea has excelled at developing the players that come into the Oakland program into some of the top talent in the conference and region. Since OU's move to the Mid-Con in 1999, O'Shea has had 25 of his players earn all-conference honors a total of 54 times as well as having eight student-athletes earn Player of the Year accolades and another pair being named the conference Newcomer of the Year.
O'Shea guided a young 2005 squad that included just a pair of seniors back to OU's customary spot in the Mid-Con standings, first-place. Led by the Mid-Con Offensive Player of the Year, Kristi Swaving, the Golden Grizzlies finished the season with a 9-8-1 record and a 4-2 mark in the Mid-Con. When the end of the season rolled around O'Shea had OU back in the Mid-Con championship game for the fifth time in six seasons.
Despite losing 10 seniors and fielding a squad with six freshmen and five sophomores in 2004, O'Shea was still able to get Oakland into the Mid-Con Tournament, finishing third in the regular season standings and picking up impressive wins against Marquette, Syracuse and #13 Michigan.
Oakland had one of its best seasons in 2003, when O'Shea guided the Golden Grizzlies to a 15-5-1 record and a perfect 6-0 slate in the Mid-Con, the school's third undefeated Mid-Con record since joining the conference. OU went on to win its fourth Mid-Con Tournament and played in the NCAA Tournament for a third straight year.
After finishing with a regular-season mark of 10-12-1 in 2002, O'Shea led a late-season surge that saw the Golden Grizzlies capture their second straight trip to the NCAA Tournament when it took the Mid-Con title on penalty kicks over regular season champion Oral Roberts.
In 2001, a victory over Michigan State on October 18 led to O'Shea's 100th career victory as Oakland head coach. He capped off the season when Oakland University represented the Mid-Continent Conference for the first time in the NCAA Tournament. The Golden Grizzlies fell to #20 Cincinnati in the first round, 3-2, a team that went on to the Sweet 16 in the tournament. Oakland finished the season with a 16-4-1 record, breaking school records for most shutouts in a season (12) and tying the marks for consecutive games without a loss (9) and consecutive victories (8).
Nick O'Shea was named Great Lakes Region Coach of the Year by the NSCAA in 2001.
In 2000, O'Shea's Golden Grizzlies finished 12-5-1 overall and 4-1 in the Mid-Con. Oakland claimed the regular-season title and the Mid-Continent Conference Tournament Championship.
Prior to coming to Oakland, O'Shea was the head women's coach at Schoolcraft Community College and coached at Livonia Churchill High School. He led Schoolcraft to the National Junior College Athletic Association title in 1987, where he was named NJCAA Coach of the Year, and to a pair of third-place finishes. Livonia Churchill advanced to the MHSAA Class A state finals three times under O'Shea.
O'Shea played collegiate soccer at OU in 1982 and 1983. In both seasons the Pioneers advanced to the NCAA Division II semifinals. An All-Region player in 1983, O'Shea came to Oakland after two seasons at Schoolcraft, where he earned second team NJCAA All-America laurels. After college he played professionally with the Kalamazoo Kangaroos and the Toledo Pride of the indoor AISA, and the Tulsa Tornado and Oklahoma City Stampede of the outdoor USL from 1984-1987.
O'Shea graduated from Oakland with a bachelor's degree in general studies with a minor in communication, is a holder of a United States Soccer Federation "A" License. He is the recipient of the prestigious Ron Wigg award for service and dedication to the Region 2 Girls Olympic Development Program. O'Shea resides in Rochester Hills with his wife Leslie-ann and their three children, Ashlyn, Sydney and Rylee. In the spring of 2008, O'Shea was inducted into the Hollie L. Lepley Hall of Honor for his accomplishments as a player at OU.
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