Oregon State Men's Soccer Week 3 Recap: Beavers Pick up a Tie and a Win in Trip to Michigan
The Oregon State men's soccer team fell out of the College Soccer Top 25 after another mixed week of results. The Beavers, who had been ranked 19th headed into last weekend, had two games against Big 10 schools lined up. Last Friday they tied the Michigan Wolverines 1-1, before defeating the Michigan State Spartans 2-1 on Monday.
The Michigan match was a missed opportunity. The Beavers outshot the Wolverines 17-7 over the course of the game, but some sloppy defense play in the first 10 minutes gave Michigan an early lead. A shot from Wolverine Bryce Blevins was blocked, but Michigan's Beto Soto picked up the deflection and scored before OSU goalkeeper John Nicholson could react.
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Oregon State answered back in the 21st minute. Ellis Spikner continued to cement his status a the Beavers new number one scorer, this time picking up a pass from Enzo Newman and rapidly putting the ball into the bottom left corner of the net.
CLINICAL!#GoBeavs pic.twitter.com/ETM1joRWvL
— Oregon State Men's Soccer (@BeaverMSoccer) August 30, 2024
The Beavers would get several more scoring chances throughout the game, but none that put the Michigan defense completely on skates like Newman and Spikner did on that play. Dante Williams put two shots on goal, while Pere Belmonte, Arnau Farnos and Fabian STraudi each picked up one. Michigan keeper Isaiah Goldson had an extremely tough job, but to his credit he stood firm in goal, only letting Spikner's shot slip past him, preserving the tie for the Wolverines.
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After a result in Ann Arbor that had to be disappointing, the Beavers came out aggressivley against Michigan State in East Lansing. Oregon State scored in the 8th minute, when Ellis Spikner got the ball to past a pair of MSU defenders to Arnau Farnos, who fired the ball from outside the box into the bottom right of the goal.
GOLAZO! pic.twitter.com/b5mjY5kbOU
— Oregon State Men's Soccer (@BeaverMSoccer) September 2, 2024
Michigan State answered early in the second half, with a goal form Mohamed Saad in the first minute, but the Beavers took the lead back in the 68th minute. It was Arnau Farnos once again, and once again he took a shot from just outside the box. If there's one thing we learned last weekend, it's that Farnos is incredibly dangerous from all over the field, and opposing defenses cannot afford to give him much room to work with.
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Michigan State was pretty aggressive for the rest of the game, but Oregon State's defense held on for the win, with John Nicholson picking up 5 saves in the game. This was one of the most complete performances we've seen from Oregon State this season, with the team delivering big plays both offensively and defensively.
The win over Michigan State happened after the latest College Soccer Rankings had been finalized, and you have to wonder if a solid win on the road would have been enough to keep the Beavers in the Top 25. Regardless, the Beavers will have another chance to make their case to the poll voters this weekend, with UC Davis coming to Corvallis on Sunday.
Having grown up in Pocatello, home of the Idaho State Bengals, John Severs is a lifelong fan of small schools that don't always deliver a lot of wins. Prior to writing for Sports Illustrated, John covered the Beavers for SB Nation's Oregon State blog Building the Dam, with a focus on baseball and women's basketball. When he's not watching college sports he spends most of his time reading, playing video games and annoying cats.