No. 1 Seed Beavers Open Tournament Play with St. John's (NY)

CORVALLIS, Ore. - The Oregon State men's soccer team opens its NCAA Tournament run with a second round matchup against St. John's (NY) on Sunday at 6 p.m. at Lorenz Field. This will mark the Beavers' first encounter with the Red Storm. Sunday's match will be broadcasted on the Pac-12 Insider and live stats will be available. The match sold out on Thursday. However, if the participating institutions do not use their full allotment of tickets required to be held by the NCAA, they will be released for online sales only 2.5 hours prior to the match. No ticket sales will occur at Lorenz Field.
 
No. 1 OSU closed the regular season with a 12-2-3 (7-1-2 Pac-12) record, clinching the Pac-12 title for the first time in program history on Nov. 11 with a 2-2 draw against Washington. The Beavers earned the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament, announced during Monday's selection show. 
 
The Pac-12 announced post-season awards on Nov. 16, with nine Beavers earning All-Pac-12 accolades highlighted by junior Sofiane Djeffal clinching Player of the Year accolades, redshirt senior Tyrone Mondi garnering Offensive Player of the Year recognition, and freshman Joran Gerbet earning Freshman of the Year honors. Head coach Terry Boss also was named Coach of the Year.
 
Last Time Out 
No. 1 Oregon State clashed with No. 3 Washington on Nov. 11 for the highest-rated matchup in Pac-12 history based on the United Soccer Coaches rankings. The top-five matchup drew a record crowd to Lorenz Field with 1,401 fans in attendance. Fighting through a scoreless first half, the Beavers held Washington to one shot. Seconds into the second half, sophomore Mouhameth Thiam found the net unassisted with a touch off his right foot. The Huskies answered in the 59th and 85th minutes to take a 2-1 lead. OSU tied the score at 2-2 in the 88th minute with a shot from redshirt senior Tsiki Ntsabeleng, assisted by Thiam and Djeffal. The Beavers' defense held UW to two shots in the first overtime period and no shots in the second to clinch the Pac-12 Championship title. 
 
Scouting St. John's (NY)
St. John's defeated Princeton, 1-0, in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Thursday in Queens, NY. The Red Storm is 11-5-3 (5-3-2 Big East), marking 11 shutouts over the course of the regular season including four in a row spanning from Sept. 13 to Sept. 28. In the Big East Tournament, St. John's tied with Butler, 0-0, in double overtime, on Nov. 6. Butler advanced on PKs, scoring four compared to St. John's two. 
 
Senior Brandon Knapp and graduate student Lucas Bartlett have scored five goals each. Four of Knapp's goals have been game-winners, while Bartlett has marked three. Knapp is also the team leader in the assists category, earning six. Redshirt junior Luka Gavran has clocked 1806:27 minutes in goal, posting 59 saves and allowing 10 goals. The Red Storm has scored 23 goals compared to ten scored by opponents. 
 
St. John's went 5-5 (3-5 Big East) in the spring.