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Oregon State Men's Soccer Weekly Recap: Beavers Defeat Santa Clara 2-0 For First WCC Win

On the road against a solid Santa Clara team, the Beavers made their case as contendors for the West Coast Conference crown with a 2-0 victory that featured strong performances from Sergi Solans and Gandhi Cruz.

John Severs

Sep 14, 2024; Corvallis, Oregon, USA; Oregon State Beavers mascot Benny Beaver arrives before the game against the Oregon Ducks at Reser Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Craig Strobeck-Imagn Images
Sep 14, 2024; Corvallis, Oregon, USA; Oregon State Beavers mascot Benny Beaver arrives before the game against the Oregon Ducks at Reser Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Craig Strobeck-Imagn Images / Craig Strobeck-Imagn Images

Oregon State Men's conference schedule got started last week, and the Beavers picked up a solid win on the road, taking down the Santa Clara Broncos 2-0. The win puts Oregon State at 1-0 in WCC play and 5-2-2 overall.

RELATED: Oregon State Men's Soccer Weekly Recap: Beavers Pick Up Big Win Over SDSU, Tie Against Seattle

Oregon State started the game aggressively, and after a few early shots from Enzo Newman and Arnau Farnos, the Beavers scored in the 28th minute when Sergi Solans picked up a free kick from Andrew De Gannes and headed it into the goal for a 1-0 Beaver lead.

The second Beaver goal came in the 60th minute. Fabian Straudi fed the ball to Aidan Marquez, and Marquez beat the Santa Clara defense with his speed, putting the ball in the bottom right of the goal to put Oregon State in front 2-0.

Other than that, the second half was almost all Santa Clara. The Broncos out shot the Beavers 11-2, but the Oregon State defense shut down any scoring chances Santa Clara managed. Goalkeeper Gandhi Cruz was the hero of the night, coming up with 6 saves to keep the sheet clean.

RELATED: WCC Men's Soccer Preview 2024: Oregon State's New Competition

While the win got the Beavers up to 24 in the national RPI rankings, OSU hasn't yet gotten back into the top 25 of the Coaches Poll. Oregon State will be back in Corvallis looking to stretch their winning streak to 3 games when they take on the Pacific Tigers tonight. The Tigers are 2-4-2 overall, and are coming off a 2-0 loss to San Francisco in their first conference game of the season.

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John Severs
JOHN SEVERS

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.

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