Beavers Ready For SEC, Big 12 Opponents
September 02, 2015 | Women's Soccer
The Weekend: The Oregon State women's soccer team takes its 3-0-0 record on the road to face Missouri (2-1-1) from the SEC at 4:30 p.m. PT on Friday and Kansas (2-1-1) from the Big 12 Conference at 5 p.m. PT on Sunday.
The match against Missouri will be played at Audrey J. Walton Soccer Stadium in Columbia, Mo., and the meeting with Kansas will be contested at Rock Chalk Park in Lawrence, Kan.
Follow Along: Friday's game against the Tigers will be televised on the SEC Network with Ben Arnet (play-by-play) and Kaysie Clark (analyst) calling the action. Fans can watch the game based on their cable company/subscription package via WatchESPN.com or on the WatchESPN app. Live stats are available at this link: http://stats.statbroadcast.com/statmonitr/?id=94674.
Sunday's match against Kansas will be televised locally there on Time Warner Cable Sports and can be watched nationally on ESPN3 at this link: http://es.pn/1O3BLbA. There will also be a live online radio broadcast for free at this link: www.kuathletics.com/radio. Live stats can be followed here: http://sidearmstats.com/kansas/wsoc/.
The Series: The will be the first time in history Oregon State will face Missouri and Kansas.
Quite the Start: Oregon State is 3-0 this season, its best start since beginning 4-0 in 2012 (the 2010 team opened 5-0). The start is even more impressive, considering the Beavers went 0-17-3 last season with one of the youngest teams in the nation.
After scoring four goals all of last season, Oregon State has nearly doubled that total already in its first three matches. Four different players have scored a goal this season, led by a pair each by freshmen Mariah Roggow and Allison Pantuso. Sophomores Emma Jones and Natalie Higgins have found the back of the net one time each.
Bella Geist was named the Pac-12 Goalkeeper of the Week on Tuesday, Sept. 1 after leading the Beavers to victories over Fresno State and San Francisco.
Historic Win: The Beavers posted a historic win over Portland in the season opener when they topped the Pilots 2-1 on a goal from freshman Allison Pantuso in the 110th minute. The victory was Oregon State's second ever at Portland's Merlo Field (the other was 2012) and improved its all-time record against the Pilots to 3-23-2.
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 had the clean sheet against Fresno State, giving her four shutouts in her career. With 14 saves this season, she has 140 in her career and needs only six more to move into seventh on Oregon State's career list (Kristen Dulacki, 145, 1994-97).
Pantuso Debut: Freshman Allison Pantuso wasted no time in making her presence felt for the Beavers. The Oaks Christian High School graduate scored a goal in the 52nd minute against Portland, just seven minutes after entering the game as a halftime substitute. She would proceed to net the game winner 22 seconds before the second overtime period expired.
National Honors: Bella Geist and Allison Pantuso were named to the TopDrawerSoccer.com National Team of the Week following the Beavers 2-1 double-overtime victory at Portland. Greta Espinoza earned Honorable Mention national honors by TopDrawerSoccer.com after the Beavers knocked off Fresno State and San Francisco.
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.
Plenty of Firsts: Sophomores Natalie Higgins and Emma Jones each had their first career goal and assist this season, while junior Sabrina Santarossa and sophomore Nikki Faris both notched their first career assist.
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).
