Beavers Fall to Top-Ranked UCLA
CORVALLIS, Ore. – The Oregon State women’s soccer team played a strong match, but was unable to hold off the No. 1 team in the nation, as the Beavers fell to UCLA 3-0 Friday evening at Paul Lorenz Field.
“I think we defended very well overall,” said head coach Linus Rhode. “I think we held them to a low number of quality chances, and I think that was the goal. We were really strong defensively from front to back, so that’s something to be happy about. In the first half I think we created some good offense as well.”
Oregon State (0-13-3, 0-7-0 Pac-12) stymied the powerful Bruin offense for the first 45 minutes, as the back line held firm. The Beavers were able to create some scoring chances early on as well, as the forward pairing of freshmen Nikki Faris and Emma Jones used their speed to attack the UCLA (14-0-2, 6-0-1) defense.
Faris forced a save in the fifth minute on a scramble in the penalty area. Redshirt-freshman Samantha Moultrie also created a chance in the 33rd minute, firing a shot from the top of the box following a Sabrina Santarossa corner kick, but the effort sailed just high.
Freshman goalkeeper Bella Geist came up with a pair of big saves in the 36th minute to take the game into the break scoreless. Geist finished the night with five saves, extending her Oregon State freshman record to 99.
UCLA broke through early in the second half, as Sarah Killion converted a penalty kick in the 46th minute. The Bruins would follow that up with goals in the 72nd and 75th minute to take a three-goal victory.
The Beavers remain in Corvallis on Sunday for their final home match of the season, as Oregon State hosts USC.
“We will bounce back from this,” Rhode said. “These girls have been awesome all year. They’ll put this game behind us and refocus for Sunday. This team has tremendous character. This is the best group I’ve ever worked with in terms of the way they go about their business and show up to work every day.”
The match will be Senior Day, as the Beaver say farewell to Julia Sattler. The game is slated to begin at 2 p.m.