Oregon State
Gonzaga
Beavers Beat Gonzaga 2-0 for Third Straight Win
September 14, 2012 | Women's Soccer
Sept. 14, 2012
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OREGON STATE NIKE INVITE
Prudhomme makes four saves as Freud and Miller pick up goals in the victory
CORVALLIS, Ore. – The Oregon State women's soccer team began the weekend's OSU Nike Invitational in winning fashion as behind the solid play of goalie Sammy Jo Prudhomme, they shutout the Gonzaga Bulldogs 2-0, Friday night at Lorenz Field.
The Beavers had goals from seniors Justyne Freud and Megan Miller as they won their third straight match, improving their record to 7-1-0 on the season. With the loss, Gonzaga dropped to 5-4-0.
The contest began in unique fashion as for the first time live cameras were rolling on the action inside Patrick Wayne Valley Stadium. The Pac-12 Networks carried the Beavers and Bulldogs' match-up Friday and captured the contest's first goal, when in the 29th minute Freud used some fancy footwork to weave herself past a GU defender. The senior then powered the ball into the net past Zags' goal keeper Susan Brown for the early 1-0 lead. It was Freud's first goal of the season after three prior assists. From that point, Prudhomme, already with one save got even better, making another stop and facing a total of seven shots in the first half.
OSU came out of the half looking to extend their lead and did just that in the 55th minute with a goal by Miller in the center of the box off of a pass from redshirt sophomore Brittney Oljar. The score at that juncture was 2-0 in favor of the Beavers and for Miller it was her second goal in as many matches, which gave her a team leading eight points on the year.
Those two scores were all the cushion Prudhomme needed as she made an additional pair of saves in the match's final 45-minutes, while facing three shots from Bulldog strikers. As the horn sounded at Lorenz Field and head coach Linus Rhode headed toward his Pac-12 Networks post-game interview, the scoreboard read 2-0, the final score with Oregon State notching their seventh win in its first eight matches.
Rhode and his team now have Saturday off to rest before their contest with Seattle University in their second and final match of the Oregon State Nike Invitational. That contest, like Friday's will be televised live on the Pac-12 Networks. Kick-off is slated for 12:05 p.m. at Lorenz Field.
For those who were not able to catch the OSU/Gonzaga match in person or on TV, a replay of it will be aired on the Pac-12 Networks at 6 a.m., Saturday, Sept. 15.
POST MATCH QUOTES
OSU Head Coach Linus Rhode
On the game plan going in…
“Defensively we knew it was going to be a tough match because of their (Gonzaga's) play, so the challenge was to keep a clean sheet and as a team we defended. On the flip side for us, we wanted to continue to generate more offense and more quality chances on goal, which we did. We are getting stronger on both sides of the ball.”
On senior Justyne Freud's goal
“The goal that she finished was fantastic. There was a lot of individual skill there from her to beat the (Gonzaga) player and then take it in. It was a great shot from 25-30 yards out, so I think that helped us get a little more momentum going and little more enthusiastic about the attack because prior to that they were putting us under a lot of pressure.”
On senior Megan Miller's goal…
“It was a good play and Brittney Oljar broke through from the midfield and she had good presence to see Megan kind of sneaking diagonally on the back side. I thought Megan did a great job bringing the ball down off of her chest and having the composure to slide it by the goalie.”
On the play of freshman goalie Sammy Jo Prudhomme…
“Sammy Jo has been outstanding. She was solid tonight and was under a lot of pressure because of the style that they (Gonzaga) plays. Anytime they have half of a chance, they are just hitting a long ball into the box , which means the goalie has to deal with a lot of pressure and I thought she did outstanding with that. They had a lot of tall girls and big bodies in there and she showed a lot of confidence to come out in the masses of people and grab the ball.
On the team's debut on the Pac-12 Networks…
“The girls were a little nervous but they were also really excited because they just wanted to come out and put on a good showing.”
Senior defender Justyne Freud
On her goal in the first half…
“It definitely started with our back line. Gwen (Bieck) did a great job of stepping up and winning the ball. From there it went forward and we swung it across, which we've been practicing. I happened to get the ball, so I cut one of the girls and got lucky, took a shot and hoped for the best and it went in.”
On the victory…
“Every match means a lot, especially now that we're trying to get to the (NCAA) tournament and we're working one game at a time. Obviously it is always good to win in front of our home crowd and especially against a Oregon or Washington school, which are our rivals.”
Freshman goalie Sammy Jo Prudhomme
On her play in goal…
“I am feeling pretty good and am just going out and doing my job, while making sure I make the saves that I need to be making and come up with the big saves when my team needs me to.”
On the confidence her team's first goal gave her…
“It definitely gives the team confidence, especially the backline because they know we can be a little more aggressive with it. It also gives me confidence because I am in a position where I can say, 'alright my team scored, I can do this and I can keep it up'. It just always gets a team rolling when you get a goal like that, especially when it is pretty early on in the half.”
POST MATCH NOTES
--OSU now moves to 4-11-0 all-time versus Gonzaga and picks up its first win in the series since 2004.
--Beaver head coach Linus Rhode won his 56th career match during his four plus years in Corvallis, putting him just 25-away from tying Steve Fennah (81) for the all-time program lead.
--Oregon State recorded its fourth shutout of the 2012 season, through its first eight matches in 2011, OSU only had three contests without allowing a goal and nine all-together.
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Players Mentioned
