Beavers Head North For Matchup With Portland

Friday, September 15

Portland, Ore.

7:00 PM

Oregon State

Portland

September 12, 2017 | Women's Soccer

Friday - 7 p.m. - Portland, Ore. - CSN Northwest

By: Athletic Communications

THE GAME: Oregon State will head up I-5 on Friday, as the Beavers hit the road for a matchup with Portland. The game is slated to begin at 7 p.m.

FOLLOW ALONG: The match will air live on Comcast Sportsnet Northwest, with Adam Linnman on the call. Links to a video live-stream, as well as live stats can be found at OSUBeavers.com.

WHAT'S COMING UP: Oregon State will kickoff Pac-12 play next week, when the Beavers head to Arizona State for a matchup with the Sun Devils on Sept. 22.

HISTORY WITH THE PILOTS: Oregon State has notched back-to-back wins over Portland, and has earned at least a result in five-straight matchups, dating back to 2011. Natalie Higgins and Toni Malone both found the net last season at Lorenz Field, pacing OSU to a 2-1 win. Allison Pantuso netted two goals in her Oregon State debut at Portland in 2015, including a game-winner with less than 20 seconds remaining the second overtime period.

Streaking:
- The Beavers have held shutouts in five of their last eight games, dating back to last season.
- Oregon State is 5-2-3 in nonconference road games dating back to the start of the 2015 season.
- The Beavers are 5-2-1 in their last eight matchups with WCC opponents.
- Oregon State has won the last five matches in which it has scored a goal.
- The Beavers made their first change to the starting lineup on Monday, as junior Toni Malone replaced Nicole Nickerson in the XI. Ten OSU players have started all seven matches this season.

Go Geist:
- Goalkeeper Bella Geist is currently third on the Oregon State all-time saves list with 326. Geist needs 11 more saves to move into a tie for second and 21 more saves to match Michelle Mitchell's (1993-96) program record.
- Geist was named Pac-12 Goalkeeper of the Week this week, and currently leads the Pac-12 in saves.
- Geist in the NCAA's active career leader with 326 saves.
- With eight saves on Monday, Geist passed Sloane Cox (Colorado) and Hope Solo (Washington) to move into ninth in Pac-12 history for career saves.
- Geist saw time with the US U-23 National Team in the spring, playing for the Stars and Stripes in the Portland Thorns Spring Invitational. The goalkeeper got the start against the Chicago Red Stars on April 1, holding a clean sheet until she was subbed off in the 64th minute.

Quick Hitters:
- Oregon State has shown continuous improvement over the last three seasons, increasing its win-total markedly over the last two years.
- The team brings back two of its top three goal scorers from last season (Faris - 6, Higgins - 4), as well as three of its top four leaders in assists (Faris - 6, Jones - 5, Higgins - 3). Higgins and Jones have both found the net already in 2017.
- Oregon State has committed the 13th-most fouls in the NCAA this season, with 13.0 per game.
- The Beavers committed the most fouls per-game in the Pac-12 last season, with an average of 12.4 per match.
- OSU placed 11 players on the Pac-12 All-Academic team last season, including seven players that will return to the squad this season (Baker, Geist, Faris, Higgins, Latham, Pantuso, Rodriguez).
- Oregon State features a strong international presence, with players from four foreign nations on the squad. Emma Jones and Kate Evans hail from England, Paula Leblic from Spain, Kathryn Baker from Canada and Olivia Ellis from Australia

The Senior Class:
- This season's team is led by a class of seven seniors, and the team has continualy had more wins year over year in every one of their seasons on campus.
- The Beavers have started all seven seniors in each of their seven matches.
- Forward Nikki Farris tied the team lead for goals with six last season, as well as leading the team and tying for fifth in the Pac-12 with six assists.
- Forward Emma Jones finished with five assists, one off of tying the team lead in the category, while starting all 20 games at forward last season.
- Midfielder Kayla Latham started all 20 games for the Beavers last season, recording 12 shots with 8 on goal.
- Forward Natalie Higgins scored four goals last season, including a game winner against Boise State.

The Staff:
- Head Coach Linus Rhode is entering his 10th season at the helm of the Oregon State womens soccer team, and is looking to lead the Beavers to their fourth NCAA tournament apperance under his watch.
- Prior to becoming head coach Rhode was an assistant and assosciate coach for the Beavers for eight seasons.
- The program brings on a new assistant coach this season, Vanessa Valentine. Valentine was formerly the head coach at Cal Poly.
- The Beavers also promoted longtime assistant Michelle Voiland to the position of associate head coach this season.

More on Rhode:
- With Oregon State's win over San Francisco last week, Linus Rhode became Oregon State's career wins leader, passing Steve Fennah.
- Associate Head Coach Michelle Voiland on Rhode: "Linus has a vision for our program, and he sticks to that vision. It's all about making sure our players have a great experience and making sure the program is always moving forward. He really cares about our student-athletesand everyone involved in the program."
- Redshirt-senior Emmy Rodriguez on Rhode: "Linus has done so much for this program. He's so dedicated to our players on the field and off the field. He's done a great job of creating a family atmosphere."

Beavs in the Pros:
- Jodie Taylor won the Golden Boot at this summer's European Championships, leading the tournament with five goals.
- Taylor also scored a goal for England in the 2015 World Cup in Canada, helping England win a bronze medal
- Taylor currently plays for Arsenal LFC
- Rachel Axon currently plays for Kolbotn Fotball in the Norwegian league.
- Greta Espinoza signed for Spanish club Levante this summer.
- Espinoza has also seen time with the Mexican National Team, including appearances at the 2015 World Cup
- Helene Haavik signed this spring with FC Staad of the Swiss Nationalliga A.

The Schedule:
- Eleven of Oregon State's 19 matches will be home games, including five of its eight nonconference contests.
- The Beavers will take on foes from five different conferences in non-league play. OSU will face three teams from the WCC, two from the Big 12, and one each from the SEC, WAC and Big Sky.
- The Beavers will be on TV nine times this year, eight times on Pac-12 Networks and once on Comcast Sportsnet Northwest.