Oct. 12, 2011

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CORVALLIS, Ore. - The Oregon State (3-7-1 overall, 1-2-0 Pac-12) men's soccer team travels to the San Francisco Bay Area this weekend for a pair of Pac-12 matchups against California (3-4-3, 0-2-1 Pac-12) and Stanford (3-6-2, 0-2-1 Pac-12). The Beavers will take on the Golden Bears on Friday at 4 p.m. and will face off against the Cardinal on Sunday at 1 p.m.

Oregon State fell to 1-2-0 in conference play over the weekend, dropping a pair of close games to then-No. 20 San Diego State and then-No. 15 UCLA. The Beavers lost to the Aztecs, 3-1, in Corvallis on Friday night despite an early second-half goal from Roberto Farfan that knotted things up at 1-1. SDSU added a pair of late tallies to claim its first win as a ranked squad over OSU. Oregon State had been 4-0 when playing a nationally ranked San Diego State side before that result.

On Sunday the Beavers took an early 1-0 lead over the Bruins on a John Swenson header in the fifth minute, but UCLA scored just before the half to tie the game, and added a goal with 30 seconds left in regulation to escape with a 2-1 win. The goal was the third of Swenson's career and first since he scored twice in the opening game of the 2009 season, a 3-1 win over San Jose State.

Oregon State is led offensively by Emery Welshman, whose nine points (2 G, 5 A) on the year place him seventh in the Pac-12. Welshman, last week's Pac-12 Player of the Week, had a part in both of the Beavers' goals against San Diego State and UCLA. The junior now has registered an assist in four consecutive games, which ties him with Ryan Johnson (2003) for second place in Oregon State history and puts him just one behind Chris Scotti, who claimed an assist in five straight games during the 1992 season. Welshman's five assists on the year are tied for 28th in the country. With one goal and three assists in Pac-12 matchups this season, Welshman leads the league with 1.67 points/game in conference contests.

On Tuesday, Welshman (fifth) and Roberto Farfan (ninth) were selected to TopDrawerSoccer's Pac-12 Top 20 Player Rankings. The list is based on previous accolades, current season performance and the feedback of informed observers all across the country and will be updated with a season-ending version in December.

Farfan has two goals and two assists this season and now has 16 career points (5 G, 6 A), which leads all current Oregon State players. Alex Eckerson paces the Beavers will three goals and two game-winning goals in 2011.

In net, Steve Spangler continues to etch his name in the OSU record books. The senior is third all-time in school history in saves (218), tied for third in solo shutouts (10), tied for fifth all-time in goals-against average (1.62) and also owns two of the top-ten seasons in terms of saves (2010 - 77; 2009 - 59). He needs thirty-six more stops to pass Bryan Hill (1996-99) for second on the all-time list. His nearly 4,900 minutes in goal for the Beavers in his career are second in program history behind Peter Billmeyer, who clocked 6,352 minutes from 2000-03.

The game against Cal will be the 34th all-time meeting between the two schools, with the Golden Bears holding a 23-8-2 edge. In the teams' last game, Oregon State fell in double overtime, 2-1, to the No. 10 Bears in Berkeley on Oct. 29, 2010. OSU's last win in the series came on Nov. 1, 2009 when the Beavers earned a 1-0 result in a matchup at Paul Lorenz Field.

Cal comes into the contest with a 3-4-3 overall mark and a 0-2-1 record in conference play, most recently playing rival Stanford to a 1-1 draw this past Sunday. John Fitzpatrick leads the Golden Bears with four goals while Seth Casiple's six assists paces the Pac-12. Robby Gogatz has started seven games in goal, allowing 12 scores and making 35 saves for a 1.54 GAA. Cal, which advanced to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Tournament last season and claimed the 2010 Pac-10 title, was ranked seventh in the country at the start of the season and tabbed by the conference's coaches to finish second in the Pac-12 this year.

Oregon State and Stanford have met 33 times previously, with the Cardinal holding a 25-5-4 record in the series. The Beavers will be aiming for their first win against Stanford since a 1-0 triumph on Nov. 9, 2007. Six of the teams' last seven meetings have been one-goal affairs or ended in a draw.

Stanford is 2-2-2 in its last six games and enters the weekend 3-6-2 overall and 0-2-1 in Pac-12 play. Adam Jahan, the conference's player of the week for games played from Sept. 20-26, leads the team with three goals and seven points. Eric Anderson has started all 11 games and has assisted on three of the Cardinal's nine goals on the season. Jason Dodson has played nearly 800 minutes in goal and made 31 saves while Drew Hutchins has played three games at keeper, stopping six shots and allowing four goals.

Live stats for both games will be available online via Gametracker at osubeavers.com. Fans can also follow the Oregon State men's soccer team throughout the season by following @OSUBeavers_MSOC on Twitter. Links to stories, photos and much more will be tweeted through the official Twitter page of Oregon State men's soccer.

Support Oregon State University Athletics by making your tax deductible donation to the Beaver Athletic Student Fund. For more information follow this link or call 541-737-2370. Former Student-Athletes are invited to join the Varsity O Facebook Page for upcoming Alumni events.

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