Oregon State
Western Washington
Kirk's Kick Gives OSU A Win
October 02, 1999 | Men's Soccer
Oct. 2, 1999
CORVALLIS, Ore. - Oregon State finished its men's soccer home-opener in dramatic fashion Saturday afternoon, getting a goal from Justin Kirk to take a 2-1 overtime win over Western Washington in non-league action. For OSU (3-5-0 overall, 0-0-0 MPSF Mountain), the victory ended a five-game losing streak that included four games against teams that have been in the national polls this season.
"It was nice to finally be at home," OSU head coach Dana Taylor said. "It was nice to have this kind of support - a lot of people came out today and made it an exciting atmosphere for both teams."
The win over Western Washington (5-4-1, 1-0-1 Pacific West) was a bit more exciting than the Beavers may have liked. They managed to outshoot the Vikings 18-7 before finally taking the victory.
"It's too bad that with 18 shots, we couldn't find the net with more regularity," Taylor said. "But, hats off to Western Washington - they were committed to working hard for more than 90 minutes.
"It was nice to put two of them away, though, and get a win. Now we'll continue to work on the areas that need improvement."
OSU finished the game in the 96th minute on a play that began with a corner kick from the left side of the Viking goal. J.P. Capodanno booted it to the far post, where Ben Roth managed to push a pass back to the left and Kirk bicycled the ball into the net.
"That was a beautiful goal at the end," said Taylor, who also praised the play of sophomore Roth and freshmen Kevin Weisenfluh and Ryan Smith.
Oregon State had taken a 1-0 lead in the 19th minute when Capodanno booted home a penalty kick after one of the Beavers had been dragged down in the WWU box. With his goal and assist, Capodanno stepped up a pair of OSU career lists, moving into a tie for sixth in goals with 16 and a tie for eighth in assists with nine.
A Beaver mistake led to Western Washington's only goal, as an OSU pass across the middle of the box was picked off by the Vikings' Jim Morton and he had an easy shot to make it 1-1 in the 48th minute.
Oregon State now quickly returns to the road, as the Beavers play at Gonzaga on Monday at 4 p.m.
OREGON STATE 2, WESTERN WASHINGTON 1 (OVERTIME) Score by halves:
Western Washington 0 1 0 - 1 Oregon State 1 0 1 - 2Scoring:
OSU-J.P. Capodanno (penalty kick), 18:58. WWU-Jim Morton (unassisted), 47:28. OSU-Justin Kirk (assists by J.P. Capodanno, Ben Roth), 95:52.
Statistics:
SHOTS: Western Washington 7, Oregon State 18. CORNER KICKS: Western Washington 5, Oregon State 9. SAVES: Western Washington 5, Oregon State 3. FOULS: Western Washington 14, Oregon State 25.
