Oregon State Men's Soccer: Beavers Face Gardner-Webb in First Round of NCAA Tournament

After falling to Portland 3-2 in their final game of the regular season, Oregon State drew a match up with the Gardner-Webb Bulldogs, the champion of the Big South Conference, in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

Nov 9, 2024; Corvallis, Oregon, USA; Oregon State Beavers giant inflatable mascot greets fans before the game against the San Jose State Spartans at Reser Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Craig Strobeck-Imagn Images / Craig Strobeck-Imagn Images

Despite falling 3-2 against Portland in their final regular season game, the Oregon State Men's Soccer team got some good news Monday morning when the NCAA announcedthe bracket for the 2024 Men's Soccer Tournament. The Beavers will take on Gardner-Webb, coming off a win in the Big South tournament.

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Saturday night against Portland the Beavers started hot, with Sergi Solans giving Oregon State a lead just five and a half minutes into the game. Portland tied the game up 17 seconds later with a Penalty Kick from Connor Evans.

Who else?! https://t.co/Fj58wUMT0R pic.twitter.com/K0eLeAXHib

— Oregon State Men's Soccer (@BeaverMSoccer) November 17, 2024

OSU took the lead back at 13:18, when Sergi Solans and Alejandro Silva set up Pol Morlans for his first goal of the season. Portland once again didn't take long to respond, tying the game in the 20th minute with a Joe Highfield goal.

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The stalemate would last for the rest of the first half, but 7 minutes into the second half Portland took the lead for the first time with an Efetobo Aror goal. Oregon State turned up their offense for the rest of the game, outshooting the Pilots 13-5 in the second half, but couldn't find the net, with some excellent shots from Sergi Solans and Arnau Farnos stymied by Portland goalkeeper Angel-Miguel Hernandez, giving Portland the win.

After a strong regular season, the loss wasn't enough to damage the Beavers postseason case too heavily. OSU still had a 10-4-3 overall record, and a 5-2-1 conference record that was good enough for third place in the West Coast Conference.

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That was enough to earn them a return trip to the NCAA Tournament, where they'll take on Gardner-Webb in the first round. The Bulldogs are coming off a win in the Big South Tournament, and have a 12-3-3 overall record. It should be an interesting matchup for the Beavers, but Oregon State will have home field advantage, with the game scheduled for Thursday night in Corvallis.

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Whoever wins the first round game will have a tough matchup in the second. They'll be facing the tournamen'ts third overall seed, the Denver Pioneers. Oregon State has proven they can go on a Cinderella run in the postseason before, but for now they can't take their eyes off Gardner-Webb.

Gardner-Webb at Oregon State is set to start at 7 pm on Thursday, November 21.