Women's Soccer Set For Home Openers
August 26, 2015 | Women's Soccer
The Kick Off: The Oregon State women's soccer team will make its home debut this weekend, when it takes to Paul Lorenz Field for the first time in 2015. The Beavers (1-0-0) will start of the weekend by taking on Fresno State (0-2-0) in a 2:30 p.m. Friday matinee, before playing host to San Francisco (1-0-1) Sunday at 2:30 p.m.
Follow Along: Friday's game will be the Beavers' first Pac-12 Networks game of the season, with the game airing on Pac-12 Oregon. Live stats for both games 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: Friday's contest will mark the third time in history the Beavers have gone head-to-head with the Bulldogs, with every meeting coming in Corvallis. Oregon State is 1-0-1 against Fresno State, with both games going to overtime. The teams last met in 2008, when they played to a 1-1 draw.
Sunday's game will be the eighth meeting between the Beavers and the Dons, with Oregon State owning a 4-3 record in the previous seven matchups. The Beavers have come away victorious both times the teams have played at Paul Lorenz Field.
Historic Win: The Beavers posted a historic win over Portland Friday evening, topping the Pilots 2-1 on a goal from freshman Allison Pantuso in the 110th minute. The victory was Oregon State's second ever win at Portland's Merlo Field, with the other coming in 2012.
Pantuso Debut: Freshman Allison Pantuso wasted no time in making her presence felt for the Beavers. The Oaks Christian High School graduate scored a goal in the 52nd minute, just seven minutes after entering the game a halftime-substitute. She would proceed to net the game winner 22 seconds before the second overtime period expired.
Go Geist: Sophomore Bella Geist made her mark on the Oregon State squad in her freshman campaign, recording 126 saves, the second highest save total in school history. Geist came up big for the Beavers again last Friday, recording six saves and coming within seconds of her fourth career clean sheet. Portland head coach Garrett Smith called Geist the “Player of the Game” for her performance in the match.
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.
Game On Greta: Greta Espinoza made her debut for Oregon State Friday, after joining 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.
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.
