Oregon State Men's Soccer Weekly Recap: Arnau Farnos Hat Trick Lifts Beavers Above Gonzaga.
A hat trick from Arnau Farnos gave the Beavers their fifth win in a row, as Oregon State took down Gonzaga 4-2 to move to 8-2-2 overall, and 4-0-0 in the West Coast Conference.
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Farnos's first goal came in the sixth minute. Tomas Bedouret launched the ball toward the goal from midfield, and Farnos snuck behind the defense to finish off the play for an early Beaver lead. The second came in the 24th minute. This time, it was Fabian Straudi setting up Farnos, feeding him the ball right in front of the goal for a 2-0 lead.
WHAT A BALL! WHAT A FINISH!#GoBeavs pic.twitter.com/2e8zl2vVHS
— Oregon State Men's Soccer (@BeaverMSoccer) October 19, 2024
Farnos almost pulled off the hat trick a few minutes later, but Gonzaga goalkeeper Chema Preciado made a diving save. The Bulldogs got their first goal of the night in the 37th minute, with a free kick after a penalty on Beaver Nicklas Lund.
BEAVERS ROLLING IN THE FIRST HALF!#GoBeavs pic.twitter.com/4gCyBxR7DY
— Oregon State Men's Soccer (@BeaverMSoccer) October 19, 2024
Farnos finished off the hat trick right before the end of the first half. Farnos was given a penalty kick after a Gonzaga penalty, and while Preciado made the save, he couldn't secure the all, and Farnos swooped for the rebound, the goal and the hat trick.
HAVE A DAY ARNAU!#GoBeavs pic.twitter.com/Y70NJ0Ktxt
— Oregon State Men's Soccer (@BeaverMSoccer) October 19, 2024
Enzo Newman gave the Beavers an insurance goal in the 51st minute. Gonzaga would get a goal back late in the game with Geremi Onentia scoring in the 88th minute, but it was far too little far too late to make the game competitive. Oregon State took the win 4-2.
Farnos of course got most of the attention out of the game, picking up Offensive Player of the Week honors from the West Coast Conference. Farnos was also named to the Top Drawer Soccer Team of the Week. Headed into the season there were questions as to how the Beavers would replace Logan Farrington's scoring Between Farnos, Sergi Solans and Fabian Straudi Oregon State has more than answered those questions.
The 5 wins in a row haven't managed to get the Beavers back in the Coaches' Top 25 poll, though the Beavers have begun to show up in a few of the other rankings. Oregon State is up to 30 in the College Soccer RPI rankings, and Top Drawer Soccer has them as the 15th best team in the country.
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That could change after Saturday night's game, arguably the most important of the season. San Diego is the only other team in the WCC that hasn't lost a conference game, and are currently ranked eighth in the coaches poll. If the Beavers can pull off an upset in that game, it would be a season defining win.
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.