Beavers Set to Open Season at Portland
August 17, 2015 | Women's Soccer
The Kick Off: The Oregon State women's soccer team heads north this week, as it prepares to open the 2015 season against Portland.
Follow Along: Friday's game will be carried live on TheW.tv, the West Coast Conference's web-streaming site. Live stats can be found on the schedule page of OSUBeavers.com. Twitter updates for all Oregon State games this season can be found @OSU_WSoccer.
In the Past: Oregon State and Portland have met 26 times in the programs' histories, including in the first round of the 2011 NCAA Tournament.
Go Geist: Sophomore Bella Geist made her mark on the Oregon State squad in her freshman campaign, recording the second highest save total in school history. Her tally of 126 was two shy of the school record, and already places her eighth on the Beavers' career list. Geist notched three shutouts in 2014, and will look to add to that total in the upcoming campaign.
Sophomore Up: Headed into the 2015 season, 10 of Oregon State's 26 players belong to the sophomore class. Many members of that group gained valuable experience as freshmen last season, and will aim to continue building this year. Kayla Latham and Miranda Stiver both found the net in their debut campaigns, and Stiver, Nikki Faris, Maddie Misi and Natalie Higgins each started all 20 games in 2014 as freshmen.
What Comes Back: The Beavers return 10 of their 11 starters from last season's roster, including six players that started all 20 matches.
Game On Greta: Greta Espinoza will make her debut for Oregon State this season, and joins the team with some impressive credentials on her resume. The Tijuana native played with the Mexican National Team at this summer's FIFA Women's World Cup, making one start and appearing in two matches. She also played for the Mexican National Team at the 2015 Pan American Games, and has competed at the Under-17 and Under-20 World Cups. Overall Espinoza has earned 13 caps with the full national team.
Baker in the Back: Junior Kathryn Baker has helped lock down the Beavers' back line the last two seasons, starting all 40 games the Beavers have played since she joined the program. Baker was a Pac-12 Honorable Mention in her freshman campaign and missed just seven minutes of game time in 2014.
Getting Schooled: Five Beavers earned Academic All-Pac-12 honors, headlined by Kathryn Baker, who was named to the First Team after wrapping up the 2014 season with a 3.95 GPA as a Pre-Environmental Engineering major. Gwen Bieck, Annie Govig, Sabrina Santarossa and 2015 graduate Julia Sattler all earned Academic Honorable Mention.
Taylor Lifts The Lionesses: Former Beaver Jodie Taylor stepped up to the international stage this summer, helping lead England to a bronze medal at the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup. Taylor, who wrapped up her Oregon State career in 2007, scored the Lionesses opening goal in their quarterfinal match against host Canada, helping England to its best ever World Cup finish. Taylor also netted a hat-trick against Australia back in March, while competing with England at the Cyprus Cup.
Get the (Pac-12) Net: The Beavers will make six appearances on Pac-12 Networks this season, including in their home opener against Fresno State on Aug. 28. OSU will also appear on TV Friday Oct. 2 vs. Utah, Thursday Oct. 8 vs. Stanford, Friday Oct. 30 vs. Washington, Sunday Nov. 1 vs. Washington State and Friday Nov. 6 vs. Oregon. The Beavers will have one other televised game on the season, Sept. 10 when they face Texas on the Longhorn Network.
