Beavers Head to Bay Area

Kicking Off: The Oregon State men's soccer team (4-6-3, 0-3-2 Pac-12) returns to action this week, as it heads down to the Bay Area for a pair of Pac-12 matchups. The Beavers will open the week by taking on No. 9/10 Stanford (9-4-2, 6-0-1) on Thursday, before facing California (5-7-2, 1-5-1) on Sunday.

Follow Along: Both of this weekend's games will be carried live on Pac-12 Networks. Thursday's match will air on Pac-12 National, Pac-12 Oregon and Pac-12 Bay Area, and Sunday's game will be covered by Pac-12 Oregon and Pac-12 Bay Area. Live stats for every game this season will be available on the men's soccer schedule page of OSUBeavers.com, and twitter updates are available at @BeaverMSoccer.

Series Histories: Oregon State has not earned a win over Stanford since 2011, and has not won a road match against the Cardinal since 2005. The teams battled through two overtime periods in Corvallis on Oct. 9, with Stanford scoring in the 105th minute to take the win.

The Beavers are 2-1-2 in their last five matchups with California, including a draw a Lorenz Field last season. Oregon State has earned at least a point in their last two visits to Berkeley, earning a 2-2 draw last season, and a 4-3 win in 2014.

Fighting Until the End: Oregon State has outscored its opponents 12-10 in the second half and overtime this season. The Beavers also outscored opponents in the final 45+ minutes last year, by a narrow 12-11 margin.

Strike Force: The Oregon State forward combination of Timmy Mueller and Jordan Jones has already combined to score a total of 40 goals in their two-plus seasons with the Beavers. They are the highest scoring combination of Oregon State players since Robbie Findley and Ryan Johnson took the field with a combined 40 goals in 2005. Overall, Jones and Mueller's career numbers are remarkably similar. Mueller currently holds a narrow lead with 20 goals and six assists, while Jones sits at 45 points, on 20 goals and five assists. The duo is currently in an nine-match scoring drought, dating back to Jones' goal against Ohio State on Sept. 5. It is the longest such stretch since Mueller and Jones joined the program in 2014.

You Can Call Him Evan: Oregon State sophomore Evan Sungvornrajasabh has the longest non-hyphenated last name of any player in the Pac-12, checking in at 16 letters.

Spreading It Around: Nine different Oregon State players have found the net this season, up from five in 2015. David Norman Jr., Jesse Garcia, Jaime Miralles, Hassani Dotson and Nathan Braaten have all scored their first Oregon State goal this year.

Youth Movement: Of the 20 players to see the field for Oregon State this season, only three of them are seniors. So far, the Beavers have played seven sophomores and seven juniors, to go along with a trio of freshmen. Zach Striar and Devonte Small were the only Oregon State seniors to see the field in the Beavers' last game.

In Memory: Oregon State is playing this season in the memory of student-athlete John Chambers, who passed away on July 8. Chambers appeared in four matches for the Beavers during his freshman season (2015).

What's New: Six players have made their Oregon State debuts this season (Norman Jr., Garcia, Miralles, Diaz, Strenov, Chimento), with Norman, Garcia, Miralles, Garcia and Strenov all earning a spot in the starting lineup for at least one game. Overall, newcomers accounted for four of the Beavers' 16 goals, and seven of their 20 assists.

All Over The Map: The 2016 Oregon State roster features players from eight different states and three foreign countries. Here's the breakdown:
- Oregon - 8 (Chimento, Garcia, Segovia, Arbogast, Ballenger, Striar, Vincent, Diaz)
- California - 5 (Sarmiento, Jones, Brill, Sungvornrajasabh, Michael)
- Texas - 3 (Dickey, Small, Waugaman)
- Colorado - 3 (Tweeton, Braaten, Hurtado)
- Canada - 3 (Wirth, Poulter, Norman Jr.)
- Washington - 2 (Markey, Dotson)
- Denmark - 1 (Strenov)
- Idaho - 1 (Mueller)
- Spain - 1 (Miralles)

Transfer Market: Oregon State has had success with transfers over the last few seasons, which could be an encouraging sign for newcomers Davis Chimento, Jaime Miralles and Jesse Garcia. Last season, then-senior Phillip van Berkom (Longwood) started all 15 matches he played, while classmate Jaime Velasco (Portland) made 11 starts after joining the Beavers as a transfer. Already in 2016, Miralles has tallied one goal and two assists, while Garcia has notched two goals and two assists.

Do Some Networking: Oregon State will appear on Pac-12 Networks 10 times this season, up from last year's total of nine. The Beavers' TV debut came on Sept. 5, when they took on Ohio State at Paul Lorenz Field. All five of Oregon State's remaining matches will be televised.

Beavers in the Pros: Oregon State has produced a number of outstanding professional players in recent seasons. Danny Mwanga was the No. 1 overall pick in the 2010 MLS Draft, before Khiry Shelton was selected second overall in 2016. Here is a list of current Beavers in the pros:
- Khiry Shelton - New York City FC
- Alan Gordon - LA Galaxy
- Emery Welshman - Real Salt Lake
- Robbie Findley - Rayo OKC (NASL)
- Danny Mwanga - Ottawa Fury (NASL)
- Will Seymore - Whitecaps FC 2 (USL Pro)
- Matt Bersano - Seattle Sounders FC 2 (USL)
- Tyler Back - Rovaniemen Palloseura (Finnish Veikkausliiga)
- Mikhail Doholis - Kitsap Pumas (PDL)

Simmons Continues Tradition: Oregon State head coach Steve Simmons enters his eighth season with the Beavers this year as just the third head coach of OSU since the program was founded in 1988. Simmons led the Beavers to their first NCAA Tournament victory in 2014, and has produced three MLS SuperDraft picks during his time as OSU's top man. Prior to Simmons, Jimmy Conway was OSU head coach from 1988-1998 (11 seasons) and Dana Taylor was the team's skipper from 1999-2008 (10 seasons). Simmons served as Taylor's associate head coach in 2002, the team's first ever NCAA Tournament campaign.

Stoddard Steps Up: Oregon State assistant Ben Stoddard earned a promotion this offseason, as he was named Associate Head Coach by head coach Steve Simmons. Stoddard is in his third season with the Beavers, after spending two seasons as a graduate assistant at Indiana Wesleyan. This summer, Stoddard was selected to be part of the NSCAA's 30 Under 30 Program, which is designed for a special group of young coaches who want to lead the way in developing soccer players and enhancing the game.

Players Mentioned

Nathan Braaten

John Chambers

Davis Chimento

Hassani Dotson

Jesse Garcia

Jordan Jones

Jaime Miralles

Timmy Mueller

Devonte Small

Zach Striar

Evan Sungvornrajasabh

Related Videos