Oregon State
Virginia
Beavers Knock Off No. 18 Virginia 2-0
September 03, 1999 | Women's Soccer
Sept. 3, 1999
CORVALLIS, Ore. - BreeAnna Jolin scored a pair of second-half goals as Oregon State upset 18th-ranked Virginia 2-0 in non-league women's soccer Friday afternoon on Lorenz Field at Valley Stadium. It was the first time in nearly four years that the Beavers (2-1-0 overall) had beaten a ranked team, OSU now hosts Wisconsin at 2 p.m. Sunday.
Jolin scored in the 57th minute off an assist from Beth Thomason, then added the final goal in the 65th minute off an assist from Sunny Miller. That made it five goals in the last two games for Jolin, who had scored a hat trick in Wednesday's 4-0 win at Gonzaga.
The Beavers' defense then turned back attack after attack by the Cavaliers (0-1-0). Goalkeeper Elizabeth Pease had five second-half saves for her fourth career shutout and OSU also got key efforts in its own end from Coral Slater, Coray Calhoun, Allison Hamada, Christy Castalanelli, Leila Kaady, Whitney Horn, Katie Henderson, Morgan Crabtree and several others.
Oregon State's last win over a ranked team had been a 3-0 home win over No. 21 UCLA on Oct. 27, 1995. The last time OSU beat a team ranked higher than 18th was earlier that same season, a 2-1 home win over sixth-ranked Connecticut on Sept. 2, 1995. Both those games were played on the OSU Women's Building Field, making Friday's victory the Beavers' first-ever over a ranked team on Lorenz Field at Valley Stadium.
"That's huge for this program, the step we've just taken," said second-year OSU coach Steve Fennah. "It sends a message that it's a good time to be at Oregon State."
The Beavers drew from both their season-opening 8-1 loss at No. 3 Portland and the win at Gonzaga to pull off Friday's upset.
"We decided to play Portland almost straight up to see where we were, and that caused us difficulty," Fennah said. "Then at Gonzaga, we picked up some confidence. We asked the team to take what they'd learned at Portland, and take the confidence from the game at Gonzaga ... now we've got Wisconsin, and we'll have to take everything we learned today and use that on Sunday."
Thomason, a fifth-year senior, is the only current Beaver who was on that 1995 squad that beat Connecticut and UCLA and carried a national ranking through much of the season. Since then, she and the other seniors who have been in OSU's program since 1996 endured a record of 13-42-3 over the last three seasons.
"It's been long enough," Thomason said of the span between big wins. "It's about time. If any team could do it, it's this team. We're as good as or better than that (1995) team.
"It's unbelievable. I've been waiting for this for a long time. We've worked hard for this, and we deserve it. Now I hope we can ride this win - instead of thinking how tired we are, thinking how good it feels to win."
The Beavers did tire toward the end of Friday's game, not making a substitution in the second half against a deeper Virginia squad. But, whenever the Cavaliers pressed ahead, OSU managed to dig deep enough to turn them back as the clock crawled toward the 90th minute.
"You just say, 'I've got to play the next five minutes hard'," Thomason said. "Then you say that about the next five minutes."
Oregon State wound up being outshot 14-7, but most of Virginia's advantage in that category was built in the final third of the game. The Beavers played the Cavaliers even, controlled the ball when they took possession, and had the edge in shots attempted for most of the first half.
Still, OSU couldn't break through until the 57th minute.
Jolin moved in on the left side and fired a shot that was deflected by Virginia keeper Julie Harris, it went to Thomason, who managed an off-balance tap back to Jolin. This time, there was no one to stop the shot and OSU led 1-0.
"I was just trying to get a foot on it, and it went in," Jolin said.
Eight minutes later, a turnover in the Beaver end of the field set in motion the second score. Miller took control and dribbled down the center of the field, then pushed it ahead to Jolin on the right side at the top of the box. Jolin took the ball further in, then beat Harris to the near post to make it 2-0.
"It was a great through ball to run onto - I was just concentrating on placing it in the corner," said Jolin of the goal that gave her five in the last two games.
"It's the greatest feeling," Jolin said of those type of scoring streaks. "It gives me all my confidence back to take shots that I might not have, and to go for balls that I might not have.
"We played with a lot of heart. We had to stay focused ... we were tired, but I think heart kept us focused. We mentally stayed in the game."
OREGON STATE 2, NO. 18 VIRGINIA 0
Score by halves:
Virginia 0 0 - 0 Oregon State 0 2 - 2Scoring: OSU-BreeAnna Jolin (assist by Beth Thomason), 56:49. OSU-BreeAnna Jolin (assist by Sunny Miller), 64:46. Statistics: SHOTS: Virginia 14, Oregon State 7. CORNER KICKS: Virginia 7, Oregon State 1. SAVES: Virginia 1, Oregon State 5. FOULS: Virginia 7, Oregon State 10.
