Oregon State Women's Soccer Week 2 Recap: A Mixed Week Gives the Beavers Their First Win of the Season.
The Oregon State Women's Soccer team had a tough first week of play in 2024, losing against the Montana Grizzlies and trailing in an eventual no contest against Iowa. In week 2 the Beavers picked up their first win of the season, but also dropped a tough contest against Yale to move to 1-2-0 on the season. Here's how everything went down.
Idaho State actually had the Beavers on the back foot for much of thier match on Wednesday, outshooting Oregon State 18-14. It was a contest of goalkeepers, which each team managing 6 shots on goal. Oregon State's Mya Sanchez blocked all six, and unfortuantely for the Bengals Trinity Hale only blocked five.
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The one goal of the game came very late, with less than six minutes left in the game. Megan Turi was taking the ball up the field for the Beavers and noticed that Trinity Hale had lost track of her. Turi fired her shot from deep, a true sniper shot, and caught Hale unawares to give Oregon State the 1-0 win.
85' | CHAOS IN POCATELLO AS MEGIN TURI FIRES US INTO THE LEAD!#GoBeavs pic.twitter.com/KJ21ijQ70J
— Oregon State Women's Soccer (@BeaverWSoccer) August 29, 2024
The win marks Caroline Kelly's first as the head coach of the Beavers. Kelly inherited a very tough job; in addition to the normal off season fluctuations to the team roster, Oregon State also had to deal with joining a new conference on short notice. Then, right before the season began, Head Coach Lauren Sinacola resigned, forcing Kelly to step up into the position. The fact that Kelly has hit the ground running to the extent she has is laudible.
The following Sunday the Yale Bulldogs travelled all the way across the country to face the Beavers in Corvallis. The Beavers got off to a strong start in their first home game of the regular season, with several great scoring chances. Their best shot came in the 30th minute, when the team capitalized on a corner kick to force Yale goalkeeper Kyla Holmes to make back to back saves. That was as close as either team got to scoring in the first half, leaving the score knotted at zero at the break.
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Unfortunately, the second half went heavily in Yale's favor. It didn't take long for the Bulldogs to get on the scoreboard; in the 49th minute a shot by Ellie Rappole ricocheted off the right post into the goal to give Yale the lead. Oregon State pressed for an equalizer, but in the 59th minute Yale added one more when Marz Akins slipped a corner kick from Rappole past Mya Sanchez.
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To Oregon State's credit, at this point the team got very aggressive, and for the final 10 minutes of the game the action stayed in front of the Yale goal. The Beavers just couldn't find a way past Kyla Holmes and the Yale defense, putting only two shots on goal, both of which Holmes saved. 2-0 Yale was the final score.
Next week will be another tough one for Oregon State. They'll be back on the road, first heading to Lincoln on Thursday, September 5th, to take on the Cornhuskers, who are currently 1-2. The following Sunday, September 8th, they''ll head up to Seattle to take on the 3-1-1 RedHawks
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.