Beavers Head to Bay Area
October 06, 2015 | Women's Soccer
The Weekend: The Oregon State women's soccer team (5-3-3, 1-2-0 Pac-12) heads south this week for a grueling road-swing that will pit it against two conference powers. The Beavers will open the weekend with a Thursday match against No. 6/8 Stanford, before taking on No. RV/18 California on Sunday.
Follow Along: Thursday's match will be carried live across all seven Pac-12 Networks, with JB Long and Krista Blunk on the call. Live stats for both matches 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 seven goals in the first 11 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 47 saves this season, she has 171 in her career and needs 17 more to move into sixth on Oregon State's career list (Sammy-Jo Prudhomme, 188, 2012-13).
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.
After scoring four goals all of last season, Oregon State has tripled that total already in its first 11 matches. Eight different players have scored a goal this season, led by freshman Allison Pantuso with three. Freshman Mariah Roggow has scored twice, while sophomores Emma Jones, Natalie Higgins, and Nikki Faris, juniors Helene Haavik and Greta Espinoza, and senior Gwen Bieck have found the back of the net one time each.
Series Histories: Oregon State will look to notch its second ever victory over Stanford this week, and its first ever road win over the Cardinal. The Beavers have never earned a point in Cagan Stadium in nine matches at Stanford. OSU's only win in the series was a 1-0 triumph at Paul Lorenz Field in 2003.
The Beavers will also be looking to defy history when they head to Berkeley, holding a 4-20-1 all-time record against the Golden Bears. Oregon State has, however, come away victorious in two of the sides' last four meetings, including a 3-0 win in 2011. Overall, the Beavers have earned just one all-time point in Edwards Stadium, as 0-0 draw in 2004.
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).
