Beavers Set For Final Home Weekend

The Kick Off: The Oregon State women’s soccer team returns home for the final time this season this weekend, as it hosts No. 1 UCLA and USC at Paul Lorenz Field. The Beavers will take on the Bruins Friday evening in their Kick Cancer match, before celebrating Senior Day against USC on Sunday.

Follow Along: Live stats will be available, and can be accessed through the OSU women’s soccer schedule page. Twitter updates for all Oregon State games this season can be found @OSU_WSoccer.

Kick Cancer: Friday’s match will be Oregon State’s Kick Cancer match, as the Beavers aim raise cancer awareness. Dam Cancer t-shirts will be available for purchase at Beaver Authentics, with a portion of the proceeds being donated to Corvallis Clinics Project H.E.R.

Senior Day: Oregon State will say farewell to senior Julia Sattler on Sunday. Sattler was part of two NCAA Tournament squads, after joining the Beavers as a freshman in 2010. Sattler recorded her first collegiate assist against UC Davis in 2012, and added another against Saint Mary’s earlier this season. In her time at Oregon State, Sattler has earned Pac-12 All-Academic Honorable Mention, and traveled to Ethiopia as part of Beavers Without Borders.

Go Geist: With seven saves against Washington on Monday, freshman goalkeeper Bella Geis set a new Oregon State freshman record with 94 saves this season. Geist now sits 34 saves behind Kristen Dulacki’s school record with five games left to play. The freshman has posted three shutouts so far this season.

Scouting the Opponents: UCLA remains the No. 1 team in the nation this week, and is undefeated so far this season. The defending national champions are led by Sam Mewis, who has recorded 10 goals and seven assists this season. Sarah Killion has five goals and 10 assists, while Taylor Smith has four goals and five assists. Katelyn Rowland has played every minute for the Bruins in goal, allowing 0.26 goals per game.

USC is 8-5-2 this season, incluging a mark of 2-4-0 in Pac-12 play. Alex Quincy leads the Trojans with nine goals, while Jamie Fink has five goals and three asissts. Caroline Stanley has started 15 games in net, allowing just 13 goals this season.

Last Time Out: The Beavers played a strong match against the Huskies on Monday, recording 12 shots, including five efforts on goal, but were unable to overcome a first half deficit as Washington took a 3-0 victory.

Head coach Linus Rhode on the performance:
“I thought we played a very good game tonight. We put together some nice offensive sequences and our defense was again solid. We were unlucky on two goals, but our girls showed their character and didn’t drop their heads. Credit to the Huskies: they are a very good side that plays a nice brand of soccer.”

Experience at the Back: Four of Oregon State’s most experienced players have joined forces to form a solid back-line. Sophomore Kathryn Baker and junior Gwen Bieck have locked down the center of the field as OSU’s centerback pairing. They are flanked on either side by the fullback combination of sophomores Helene Haavik and Annie Govig.  The quartet has helped the Beavers hold nine opponents to a goal or less this season, including three clean sheets.

Faris Wheel: Freshman Nikki Faris leads the Beavers with 22 shots this season, seven of which have been on goal. The San Clemente, Calif. native has started all 15 of Oregon State’s games at forward, after setting the San Clemente High School single season record with 25 goals. Faris has created a number of good scoring opportunities in the last four matches.

Say Hello...: A number of Beaver players have made their debut in the Orange and Black this season. Twelve true freshmen have seen the field in the 2014 campaign, with eight of them making at least one start. Nikki Faris and Natalie Higgins have all started each of the Beavers’ 15 games this season as true freshmen.

Can’t Beat Bieck: If there is one thing you can count on when it comes to Oregon State soccer, it’s that you will find Gwen Bieck in the starting lineup every week. The Duvall, Wash., native has started 41 consecutive matches for the Beavers,  in a streak that began against Colorado on Oct. 13, 2012. She has played in 54 of the 55 games the Beavers have played since she joined the program. Bieck has been named a team-captain for the 2014 season, and has taken over an expanded role as a leader on the team.  

Govig or Go Home: Sophomore Annie Govig will help lock down an experienced core of Beaver defenders. The Sherwood, Ore., native played primarily at outside back last season, playing 18 matches and starting 13 games, and has continued that trend to begin this season, starting all 15 of Oregon State’s matches this year. Govig recorded her first career assist on Aug. 31, whipping a cross into the box that ultimately found the head of Kayla Latham.

Baker’s Field: Sophomore Kathryn Baker has started all 35 games the Beavers have played since she joined the team last season. The underclassman from Vancouver, B.C. was a Pac-12 Conference Honorable Mention last season for her efforts at centerback.

Latham On the Mark: Freshman Kayla Latham scored her first career goal on Aug. 31, hammering home a header in the 58th minute to level the score. The midfielder has played in all 10 games this season, making six starts. He late header off the post nearly gave the Beavers a victory over Potland on Sept. 19.

Youth Movement: The 2014 Oregon State roster includes just four upperclassmen, compared to 20 underclassmen including 13 freshmen. The Beavers lost a number of outstanding seniors at the end of the 2013 season, as nine players graduated. Despite the departures, Oregon State’s returners come in with solid experience. Junior Gwen Bieck will step in as team captain, and will be expected to lead the team on and off the field. She will be joined by sophomore Kathryn Baker, who was a stalwart on the Beaver back line in the 2013 campaign.

It Ain’t Easy: The Oregon State women’s soccer schedule features four games against teams ranked in the NSCAA’s top-25, and nine games against teams that made the 2013 NCAA Tournament. The difficult schedule is headlined by a visit from defending national champion No. 1 UCLA at Paul Lorenz Field on Oct. 24. The Beavers will follow that up by taking on No. 6 Stanford in Northern California just over a week later on Nov. 2.

Get the (Pac-12) Net: The Beavers will have seven games televised on Pac-12 Networks this season. Oregon State made its 2014 television debut on Aug. 31, when it hosts St. Mary’s. The Orange and Black will then make back-to-back appearances on the screen when it faces Washington State at Paul Lorenz Field on Sept. 26, before taking on Arizona in Tucson on Oct. 3. After hosting its final home television contest of the season on Oct. 10 (vs. Colorado), the Beavers will close out their 2014 Pac-12 Networks slate with road games at Washington (Oct. 20), Stanford (Nov. 2) and Oregon (Nov. 7).