No. 1 Seeded Beavers Advance to Program’s First Elite Eight

CORVALLIS, Ore. – The No. 1 Oregon State men's soccer team edged past No. 16 New Hampshire, 1-0, at Lorenz Field on Sunday to advance to the quarterfinal of the NCAA Tournament. Improving to 14-2-3, the Beavers mark their first appearance in the Elite Eight round with a match against No. 8 seed Clemson.
 
"I just have to give so much credit to the guys. I'm really proud of them," said head coach Terry Boss.  "I thought the first half was exceptional, I thought the guys played really well. UNH is a fantastic team, and we knew that they were physical. I do believe our conference has prepared us for it. UNH certainly turned up the dials in the second half and there's things we're going to need to go back and look at and make better. With that being said, the resolve, the grit, the fight to not concede, I couldn't be more proud of our guys."
 
Sophomore Mouhameth Thiam scored the sole goal of the match, connecting with a long pass from redshirt senior Tsiki Ntsabeleng and facing the goalkeeper one on one before firing off a shot from his left foot. 
 
The Oregon State defense held UNH to three shots on goal out of 11 shots total. 
 
Junior Adrian Fernandez earned three saves, posting his second consecutive shutout in tournament play and 10th this season. Throughout the match, the Orange and Black marked three shots on goal out of seven shots total and took six corner kicks throughout the game. 
 
Up Next
The Beavers will clash with Clemson at Lorenz Field in Corvallis, Ore. on Saturday, Dec. 4 at 6 p.m.