Beavers Head to Arizona For Critical Road Weekend
October 20, 2015 | Women's Soccer
The Weekend: The Oregon State women's soccer team (6-5-3, 2-4-0 Pac-12) heads to the Grand Canyon State this week for a pair of games against Arizona State (5-7-1, 1-4-1) and Arizona (9-4-1, 3-3-0). The Beavers will open the weekend by taking on the Sun Devils Friday at 7 p.m., before heading south to face the Wildcats on Sunday at 1 p.m.
Follow Along: Live video and stats for the match will be available on the women's soccer schedule page of OSUBeavers.com. For all things Oregon State women's soccer, follow @OSUWSoccer on Twitter.
Dominant Defense: Oregon State has held its opponents to just 12 goals in the first 14 matches of the year, including five shutouts.
Go Geist: Sophomore Bella Geist made her mark on the Oregon State squad in her freshman campaign, recording 126 saves, the second-highest total in single-season school history. She has already recorded five clean sheets this year, giving her eight shutouts in her career. With 65 saves this season, she has 189 in her career and needs one more to move into fifth on Oregon State's career list (Jo Fletcher - 190; 2001-02).
Series History: Oregon State has a 6-11-1 record all-time against Arizona State, but has won three of the last five meetings. Overall, the Beavers are 3-7-0 in Tempe. The Beavers hold a 10-9-1 edge over the Wildcats, and have won four of the last six meetings, including two of the last three in Tucson.
Follow the Rhode: Oregon State head coach Linus Rhode has proven his ability to lead his teams to success over the course of his eight year run with the Beavers. Rhode has guided OSU to three NCAA Tournament appearances during his tenure, including a Sweet 16 run in 2009. Overall, Rhode has notched 72 wins and four winning seasons in his time as the Beavers' top-man.
Historic Win: Oregon State notched a big win over UCLA on Saturday, taking down the Bruins for the fourth time in school history. The Beavers topped UCLA 2-1 on goals from Nikki Faris and Emma Jones to take their first win over the Bruins since 2010.
Quite the Start: Oregon State finished nonconference play with a record of 4-1-3, with their only loss coming on the road at No. 8 BYU. The start to the season was the Beavers' best since they entered conference play with a record of 8-1-0 in 2012, and OSU's record this season is especially impressive considering the squad finished 2014 at 0-17-3.
Hitting the Road: Oregon State faced a challenging start to the year, playing just four of its first 11 games at home. That stretch took the Beavers across the country, as the team has already played matches in Kansas, Missouri, Texas, Utah and California. Overall, just eight on OSU's 19 regular season games will be played a Paul Lorenz Field.
America's Team to Beaver Nation: Junior McKenzie Redberg has taken an unusual path to the Oregon State women's soccer team, serving a four-year stint in the United States Air Force prior to enrolling at OSU. Redberg, a medic during her years of service, is a Corvallis native and graduate of Corvallis High School. She has made three appearances for the Beavers this season.
Sophomore Up: Entering the 2015 season, 10 of Oregon State's 26 players are sophomores. Many members of that group gained valuable experience as freshmen last season. Kayla Latham and Miranda Stiver both found the net in their debut campaigns, while Nikki Faris, Maddie Misi, Natalie Higgins and Stiver each started all 20 games in 2014 as freshmen.
Game On Greta: Greta Espinoza joined the team with some impressive credentials on her resume. The Tijuana native played with the Mexican National Team at this summer's FIFA Women's World Cup. She also played for the Mexican National Team at the 2015 Pan American Games, and has competed at the Under-17 and Under-20 World Cups.
Getting Schooled: Five Beavers earned Academic All-Pac-12 honors last year, headlined by Kathryn Baker, who was named to the First Team after wrapping up the 2014 season with a 3.95 GPA as a Pre-Environmental Engineering major. Gwen Bieck, Annie Govig, Sabrina Santarossa and 2015 graduate Julia Sattler all earned Academic Honorable Mention.
Taylor Lifts The Lionesses: Former Beaver Jodie Taylor stepped up to the international stage this summer, helping lead England to a bronze medal at the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup. Taylor, who wrapped up her Oregon State career in 2007, scored the Lionesses opening goal in their quarterfinal match against host Canada, helping England to its best-ever World Cup finish.
Get the (Pac-12) Net: The Beavers will make six appearances on Pac-12 Networks this season, beginning with the home opener against Fresno State. OSU will also appear on TV on Friday Oct. 2 vs. Utah, Thursday Oct. 8 at Stanford, Friday Oct. 30 vs. Washington, Sunday Nov. 1 vs. Washington State and Friday Nov. 6 vs. Oregon. The Beavers will also be on TV against Missouri on Friday, Sept. 4 (SEC Network) and Texas on Thursday, Sept. 10 (Longhorn Network).
