No. 1 Beavers Close Regular Season with Washington
CORVALLIS, Ore. - The No. 1 Oregon State men's soccer team caps the regular season with a Thursday night battle with No. 3 Washington at Lorenz Field on Thursday at 6 p.m. The match will be broadcasted on the Pac-12 Networks and tickets are available ranging from $4-$6.
OSU is 12-2-2 (7-1-1 Pac-12) and is at the top of the Pac-12 standings, and checks in at No. 1 in the United Soccer Coaches rankings for the first time in program history. Oregon State also has the opportunity to clinch the Pac-12 title outright on Thursday, just needing a win or tie against the Huskies to seal the deal.
The Beavers will be celebrating their 11 graduating seniors: Adrian Crespo, Tyrone Mondi, Tsiki Ntsabeleng, Sofiane Djeffal, Joel Walker, Carlos Moliner, Adrian Fernandez, Alex Cover, Alex Salt, Caleb Etter, and Micah Craig.
Last Time Out
No. 2 Oregon State clinched a share of the Pac-12 title on Nov. 4 with a 1-0 shutout against San Diego State in San Diego, Calif. Thursday's match marked the Beavers' eighth shutout of the season and third in a row, as well as Fernandez's 22nd career solo shutout. Sophomore Javier Armas scored the sole goal of the match from 30 yards out with an assist from Crespo.
The Beavers closed out their last regular season road stretch in Los Angeles, Calif., falling to UCLA, 3-2. Ntsabeleng scored the Beavers' first goal in the 64th minute with a header off Mondi's cross. Down 3-1, freshman Joran Gerbet scored the second goal of the match and his second goal of the season in the 88th minute with a header from Armas' corner.
Last Time Against Washington
No. 8 Oregon State gave No. 1 Washington their first loss of the season back on Oct. 22 in Seattle, Wash in this season's earlier matchup as the Beavers edged past the Huskies, 3-2. Mondi found the net unassisted with a touch off his right foot in the 9th minute of play. Washington scored in the 26th and 55th minutes to take a 2-1 lead, despite being down a man. Gerbet tied the score at the 73rd minute with the Huskies down a second man. Sophomore Mouhameth Thiam sealed the Beavers' victory in the 86th minute with a penalty kick drilled to the keeper's right.
Scouting Washington
Washington enters Thursday with a 14-1-1 overall record and a 6-1-1 Pac-12 record. After falling to OSU, the Huskies' Oct. 28 match against California was ruled a no contest due to field conditions brought on by heavy rain at the 60-minute mark. Since the match fell short of the 70-minute standard, stats and the match did not count. UW tied, 0-0, with Stanford (Oct. 31) and posted road shutouts at UCLA (Nov. 4) and San Diego State (Nov. 7).
Junior Dylan Teves is UW's top scorer, tallying six goals this season, four of which are game-winners. Following Teves is redshirt senior Ryan Sailor and sophomore Nick Scardina with five goals apiece. Teves also leads the assists category with seven. Sophomore Sam Fowler has clocked 1391:22 minutes in goal, making 46 saves and allowing eight goals. The Huskies have scored 36 goals compared to eight scored by their opponents.
The Huskies went 12-4-0 (7-3-0 Pac-12) in the spring.