Beavers Fall to No. 8 BYU; Suffer First Defeat
September 18, 2015 | Women's Soccer
PROVO, Utah – The Oregon State women's soccer team battled hard for the full 90 minutes, but was unable to overcome an early goal by No. 8 BYU Thursday evening, as the Cougars took a 1-0 win in Provo, Utah. The loss is the first for the Beavers this season, as the squad moved to 4-1-2 on the year.
Sophomore goalkeeper Bella Geist made five saves in the match, all of which came in the second half. The Biology major now has 158 saves in her career, bringing her within 30 of sixth place on OSU's career list.
Sophomore Nikki Faris made a bid to get the Beavers on the board within the first three minutes, forcing a save with a shot from 20 yards out. BYU (7-1-0) would respond with a goal, taking an early 1-0 lead by finding the net on a scramble in the Oregon State penalty area in the 13th minute. The tally snapped a Beaver stretch of 347 minutes without allowing a goal from open play.
Junior Helene Haavik fired a shot from distance in the closing minutes of the first half, but the effort was saved by the BYU goalkeeper, and the Cougars took a 1-0 lead into the break.
BYU would come close to extending the advantage early in the second half, but Geist made a sprawling save to keep the deficit at one. Freshman Allison Pantuso had a chance to level the score in the 54th minute with a shot from 18 yards out, but she was unable to get clean contact on the attempt.
Freshman Mariah Roggow nearly had a great opportunity in the 75th minute off a cross from fellow freshman Jenna-Lee Baxter, but the ball got caught in her feet just 10 yards from goal. Sophomore Natalie Higgins followed that up with a shot from the left side of the box in the 84th minute, but again the BYU keeper was up to the challenge.
Faris came close to forcing overtime in the dying minutes with a shot from point-blank range, but once again the attempt was denied and BYU took the win 1-0.
The Beavers will head to California on Sunday for a match at San Diego.
