Oregon State
Portland State
Beavers Earn Comeback Victory on the Road, Put PSU Away 2-1
August 24, 2012 | Women's Soccer
Aug. 24, 2012
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BEAVERTON, Ore. – The Oregon State women's soccer team maintained their perfect record in 2012, scoring two goals within a two-minute stretch Friday afternoon to defeat Portland State 2-1. The come from behind victory was sparked by senior Megan Miller's team-leading third assist of the year, which set up a perfect header by redshirt sophomore Brittney Oljar to tie the match late in the second half. With the win, the Beavers improved to 3-0 on the season, while the loss dropped the Vikings to 0-2.
Portland State got on the board first in the ninth minute with a 35-yard shot from PSU forward Kayla Henningson. The ball went over the outstretched arms of goalie Audrey Bernier-Larose's into the top left corner of the goal for the early 1-0 Viking lead. PSU would hold that slim margin going into halftime as Oregon State would muster just one shot on goal during the first 45 minutes of play.
The second half the Beavers came out firing, with a total of five shots and two on goal. The first ball to make its way into the net came in the 72nd minute when Miller fed the ball to Oljar, which she headed in for OSU's first score to make it 1-1.
Just two-minutes later, junior forward Erin Uchacz gave her team their first lead from a ball fed to her by teammate Justyne Freud, who lobbed it in off of a free kick. With two goals in just two-minutes the Beavers went from being down 1-0 to leading 2-1. The Orange and Black defense made sure that lead would hold up as they did not allow another shot to make it toward Bernier-Larose's direction during the final 15-minutes of play.
The Beavers are now 3-0 to start the 2012 campaign, which marks the second time in three seasons they have accomplished that feat. OSU will now have a handful of days to rest before traveling to the Golden State to take on Cal State Fullerton. That match will take place at 7 p.m. on Thursday and will be the team's first contest outside the state of Oregon this season.
POST MATCH QUOTES
OSU Head Coach Linus Rhode
On his team's play during the first half…
“I thought the first half we came out slow with not enough intensity and urgency. We let the game get away from us for 45-minutes and made the game more difficult for ourselves. We made some adjustments in the second half and I think the quality of our play was much better.”
On the resiliency of his team…
“It shows that they have character to come back when they are down and that was the challenge at half-time that we put out to our players. They definitely rose to the occasion and showed a lot of character and determination to come out with a win against a good Portland State team.”
On Megan Miller's team-leading third assist, which led to the match tying goal…
“She has great vision and great technique. She can put the ball on a silver platter for just about anyone and all they need to do is finish it off. Both of those aspects were working very well (for her) in the second half.”
Senior midfielder Megan Miller
On her assist which led to the tying score…
“To be honest Jacy Drobney did all of the work. She worked her way down the line, got to the end zone and sliced and diced people like none other. I found myself on top of the box so she laid it to me and I bent it far post as a shot but it deflected off of a defender. The way that it spun, Brittany Oljar was there and just headed it in. It was hard work all-around to get that goal.”
On the confidence the goal gave her team going forward in the second half…
“The first half was so rough for us and I knew that once we got a goal we would just have all this momentum. We were pressing and pressing, so once we got the goal it just broke that seal.”
Redshirt sophomore midfielder Brittney Oljar
On her header that tied the match…
“Jacy (Drobney) crossed it in and then Megan (Miller) went for the shot but it deflected off of one of their (Portland State's) players. It was spinning and I just got my head on it, so I was just in the right place at the right time.”
On her thoughts after seeing the ball go through the net…
“I had a feeling that we just needed that one goal for us to get momentum, so once we had that I knew we'd be able to score another.”
Junior forward Erin Uchacz
On her eventual match-winning goal…
“It felt good but Justyne (Freud) just had such a phenomenal ball. It went to my head and I was just able to get it in.”
On the confidence this win gives her team…
“I think it just shows that we're ready for the season and we can win in any situation. It gives us confidence when we go forward that we can win we're ahead and we can come back and win.”
POST MATCH NOTES
--Linus Rhode has won his 52nd match as Oregon State women's soccer coach, putting him just three away from passing Tom Rowney (1992-97), and earning sole possession of second place.
--OSU moves to 10-4-1 all-time against Portland State, with a 2-0-1 record versus the Vikings on the road.
--Oregon State is now 3-0 for the second time in three seasons as they began the 2010 campaign with a 5-0 record.
--Senior Megan Miller's assist was her team leading third of the season, with all of them having either led to the tying or go-ahead goals.
--Junior Audrey Bernier-Larose gave up her first goal of the season during the first half, snapping a more than 180-minute streak of no goals allowed versus Beaver opponents.
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