Beaver Soccer Report: Women Move To 5-0, Men Finding Their Form

Women’s Soccer

Results: 9/5 (1-0 Win over New Mexico), 9/8 (3-0 Win over UC-Davis)

Another two games just meant more business as usual over the weekend in Corvallis for the Oregon State women’s soccer team.

A fearsome New Mexico squad visited town on Thursday night, hoping to play spoiler to the Beavers perfect start to the season and after a lightning delay (and a sluggish first half), the game finally found life when defender Ashleigh Fonsen found the net in the 52nd minute.

Fonsen’s goal would go on to the be the decisive one, in a contest that the senior noted as “one of the most physical games we have seen this year.” The victory over a New Mexico squad who began the year with an upset of #22 Texas Tech, was another step in the right direction for an Oregon State program whose completely found a new culture under first-year head coach Matt Kagan.

Sunday’s clash against UC-Davis was simply more of the same, as the team’s steady balance of resolute defense and excitable offense helped the team to their fifth straight win to start the campaign. Goal scorers in that affair included Paula Leblic, Mckenzie Weinert and Abby Schwartz. The team now sits at 5-0, the program’s best mark since 2010. and have outscored opponents by a 12-1 margin on the year.

Up Next: The Beavers will leave the state of Oregon for a pair of road contests against Houston on Thursday, September 12th at 5 PM PT and Rice on Sunday, September 15th at 5 PM PT.

Men’s Soccer

Results: 9/6 (2-0 Win over Davidson), 9/9 (4-1 Win over Pacific)

Not far behind the Oregon State women’s soccer team, the men’s team has rallied from an opening day loss to Coastal Carolina, to pull off three straight wins to set their season in the right direction.

The trick now will be keeping it up for the Beavers, who are set to take their first road trip of the year when they visit Grand Canyon on Thursday.

As for their recent games, the men looked in control of the contest against Davidson, out-shooting the Wildcats by a 24-8 overall margin in the clash. However, after a scoreless first-half, it would take two goals in the second frame, one by Kolade Salaudeen and another by Adrian Crespo to finally mark the difference between the two sides. It’s easy to say that that breakthrough from the side helped carry some positive momentum into Sunday’s showdown with Pacific.

The Tigers and Beavers shared an enjoyable contest, with goals and shots abound, but at the end of the day, the 4-1 scoreline fell in Oregon State’s favor, thanks to finishes from Joel Walker, Adrian Crespo, Sofiane Djeffal and Eric Diaz. It’s worth noting that Crespo, a goal scorer in both contests, was also included on the College Soccer News National Team of the Week for his quality play throughout the games.

Up Next: The Beavers travel to Grand Canyon for a meeting on Thursday, September 12th at 7 PM PT, before returning home for a Sunday, September 15th match-up with UC-Santa Barbara at 7 PM PT.