Oregon State
Tulsa
Men's Soccer Earns Hard-Fought Victory At Tulsa
September 01, 2000 | Men's Soccer
Sept. 1, 2000
CORVALLIS, Ore. - - The Oregon State men's soccer team (1-0-0 overall, 0-0 Pacific-10) overcame brutal heat and a tough challenge from the Tulsa Golden Hurricane (0-1-0) to claim a 2-1 season-opening win in non-conference action on Friday night. The Beavers play Oral Roberts on Sunday at 12 noon PDT.
OSU took the first 15 minutes to adapt to 105-degree heat, but got things rolling when freshman forward Jesse Servin scored off a cross from sophomore Justin Kirk at 16:45 into the match. Less than eight minutes later, the Beavers punched in another goal when sophomore Aaron McHardy scored on a breakaway against Tulsa goalkeeper Brent Salter to give the Beavers a 2-0 cushion.
"We were very tentative during the first 15 minutes," OSU head coach Dana Taylor said. "We couldn't connect our passes and we were unable to gain our composure due to the heat. We worked hard though, and settled in, then we got two great goals from our forwards."
Many of the questions that OSU had going into the season were potentially answered in Friday's game.
"Going into the game, our forward-play was a question mark, but we had two great goals by our forwards tonight," Taylor said.
Freshman goalkeeper Peter Billmeyer, who surrendered Tulsa's only goal at 43:03 into the match when Hurricane midfielder Julian Gaitan scored off of a deflection in front of the net, was credited by Taylor as playing a fine game, as was the midfield. Billmeyer saved four shots on the night.
"We had superb play from our midfield tonight, and Billmeyer gave us spectacular play," Taylor said. "We had a great team-effort defensively as well."
Oregon State, which was outshot by the Hurricane 15-9, got three shots from Servin, and two from McHardy and Kirk. Tulsa had nine corner kicks to OSU's five.
OSU went with a lineup of five freshmen, four sophomores, a junior and a senior for the majority of the match. Every Beaver played.
"To come down to Tulsa, where they have been a top-25 team year-in and year-out, and to steal a win under these circumstances is great," Taylor said. "I'm really proud of the boys and their composure. We took a great step forward tonight in finding a way to win."
After its match at Oral Roberts on Sunday, OSU will play Illinois-Chicago on Friday, Sept. 8 as it hosts the Oregon State/Diadora Soccer Classic at Lorenz Field at Valley Stadium in Corvallis.
OREGON STATE 2, TULSA 1
Score by halves:
OSU 2 0 - 2
Tulsa 1 0 - 1
Scoring:
OSU: Jesse Servin (unassisted), 16:45
OSU: Aaron McHardy (unassisted), 24:11
Tulsa: Julian Gaitan (Matt Yeager/Robbie Aristodomo), 43:03
SHOTS: OSU 9, Tulsa 15, CORNER KICKS: OSU 5, Tulsa 9, SAVES: OSU 4, Tulsa 3, FOULS: OSU 17, Tulsa 10.
