Oregon State Women's Soccer Preview: Can the Forwards Step Up in 2024?
Today, we're starting a series of positional previews for the 2024 Beaver Women's Soccer team. First up, we'll be taking a look at the forwards.
In 2023 the Beavers scored only 16 goals. That number has to come up if they want to be competitive in the WCC. If there's going to be morescoring in 2024, OSU's forwards are the group that's going to need to improve the most.
Last season, McKenna Martinez was the Beavers' leading scorer, accounting for 6 of the Beavers 16 goals and helping with another 3 on assists. She finished the year ranked 4th on OSU's all time scoring list. She should find herself a couple spots higher in the rankings after this season.
RELATED: West Coast Conference Women's Soccer Preview 2024
Martinez is an extremely versatile scorer, able to use a quick burst of speed to get past defenders and capitalize on an assist right in front of the goal, or to use deft footwork to slip past defenders herself. Check out this goal below, for an example. Martinez expertly slices the ball through several Portland defenders and buries the ball perfectly in the upper right corner with incredible accuracy.
1' | That's how you start 🔥🔥🔥@kennamartinez_ knocks one home just 25 seconds in! #GoBeavs | #BEAVUP pic.twitter.com/bSkMP2MOCP
— Oregon State Women's Soccer (@BeaverWSoccer) September 3, 2023
Martinez can be counted on for scoring, but she could definitely use some help. Three other Beaver forwards had goals in 2023. Carly Carraher had 2, while Lindsey Antonson and Katie Godden had one each. This is a veteran group; Carraher and Godden are both seniors while Antonson is a junior, but only Godden was a full-time starter last year. As full-time starters, this is a group that could definitely step up this season.
One interesting name to watch will be Ava Benedetti. Benedetti was a big get for the Beavers in the transfer portal, coming to OSU after a promising season at Arkansas where she helped the Razorbacks get to the Elite Eight. Before that, she was All-WAC first team selection at Seattle. When she started with the Beavers in 2022 she consistently generated and shots and picked up her first goal early in the season against Eastern Washington.
After a September 11 match against James Madison, Benedetti sat out the rest of the season, and she didn't appear at all during the 2023 season. As a senior it looked like her time at Oregon State might be done, but the team and Benedetti announced she'd be back as a graduate for 2024. If she can contribute this season, she could be a huge asset for the Beavers.
RELATED: Oregon State Women's Soccer Elevates Caroline Kelly To Interim Head Coach
"I decided to come back to further my academics as well as for the potential I see in this team." 🧡🖤
— Oregon State Women's Soccer (@BeaverWSoccer) December 18, 2023
- Ava Benedetti#GoBeavs pic.twitter.com/n2hj0Gv0Q1
The Beavers also have a solid group of recruits coming into the season, with Ari Hill being a standout. Hill was a three-star recruit out of Sumner High School in Washington, where she won regional honors from the Olympic Development Program.
There's some talent in this group, but a lot needs to happen if the Beavers are going to be competitive in their new conference this season.
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.