Oregon State
Arizona
Pairs of Goals from Richardson and Miller Propel OSU over Arizona 5-1 on Senior Day
October 21, 2012 | Women's Soccer
Oct. 21, 2012
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Two OSU upperclassmen combine for nine points on the day as Beavers score most goals in a match this season
CORVALLIS, Ore. - Led by Megan Miller and Jenna Richardson's pair of goals, the Oregon State women's soccer team cruised to a 5-1 win on senior day, Sunday versus Arizona. The first two goals of the match were scored by Richardson who put hers in the net within two minutes of one another. Miller added her two later in the contest, with one coming near the end of the first half and the other at the start of the second.
For the Beavers, it was the most points they scored in a single match this season and gave them an 11-4-1 overall record on the year and a 3-3-2 mark in conference play. The loss was Arizona's fourth in-a-row and dropped the Wildcats to 5-9-3 and 1-5-2 in the Pac-12.
Richardson and Miller are again both atop the team lead for goals scored this season, with seven a piece. The duo entered Sunday with five, while Miller continues to lead OSU in points (20) and assists (6).
Richardson's first goal came in the 18th minute when junior Jessica Niewoehner passed her the ball from the left corner of the box. The ball did not touch the ground from that point as Richardson directed it in mid-air toward the back of the net.
Just two minutes later, at the 19:06 mark, number three converted on number two as Richardson took a long pass from Miller into the box and put it home past Arizona goalie Gabby Kaufman.
The two goals gave Linus Rhode's team a quick 2-0 lead and they never looked back, scoring again in the 28th minute. That's when Niewoehner picked up her second help of the day, when her kick was tapped in from out in front of the net. The goal was credited to junior Brandi Dawson to give the Beavers a commanding 3-0 lead.
The Wildcats were quick to answer that goal when just a minute and a half later Jazmin Ponce scored off of a free kick outside of the box. U of A's leading goal scorer sent a ball sailing past a jumping Sammy Jo Prudhomme in the back corner of the OSU net.
Following Arizona's first score it was 3-1 Beavers, but the two goal lead would be extended back to three thanks to Miller, who converted on her first goal in the 36th minute. That's when she took a long shot from about 30-yards out that went into the back left corner of the net for the 4-1 advantage, which would carry her team into halftime.
Miller and Oregon State would add one more goal on the afternoon when in the 53rd minute a foul inside the box led to a penalty kick, which she powered passed Kaufman for her second and final score, making it 5-1.
Playing a solid 64-minutes in goal and making her sixth straight start was Prudhomme, who stopped four shots for a total of 65 on the year. Keeper Audrey Bernier-Larose saw her first action in goal for her team since Sept. 27 when they played Stanford.
The Oregon State scoring frenzy followed an emotional pre-match ceremony for six seniors on the team this year. Milan Cabrera, Katie Gleffe, Justyne Freud, Lindsay Meiggs, Megan Miller, and Claire Pflueger were all honored before the contest and given flowers as well as gifts for their contributions to the program during the last four plus seasons.
Those emotions carried into the contest as the Beavers had their highest offensive output all season. Leading the way in the shots category for OSU was Richardson who fired off five and sent three toward the Wildcat goal. Miller, Dawson and Val Margerum followed their teammate with three a-piece, while Miller was perfect on the day scoring on all three attempts.
Having played their final regular season home match of the year, the `Beavs will next travel to Pullman, Wash., Friday, Oct. 26, where they will take on the Cougars of Washington State. They then head to Seattle on Sunday where they play the Huskies from Washington.
POST MATCH QUOTES
OSU Head Coach Linus Rhode
On his team's performance...
"That is definitely the kind of performance we have been waiting to see. Offensively everything was just clicking today so it was fun to watch. As a coach you can't ask for anything more."
On the play of Jenna Richardson and Megan Miller...
"Jenna and Megan were very good today. Both were very effective in front of the goal for themselves but also set up a lot of opportunities for their other teammates."
On senior day...
"Senior day is always emotional and today was no different. For Megan to get two goals on senior day was fantastic. I am very happy for her and I am sure it is a day she will never forget."
On the momentum this win creates moving forward...
"I think we are in good shape. As a group we know that we still probably need to get a few more wins, how many exactly I don't know but I don't feel like we need to look too far ahead. We just need to take it each game at a time and prepare for our next match."
Senior midfielder Megan Miller
On her two goals...
"It felt great. The first one was a little bit of a surprise to me because I am left footed but I was wide open, so I took a crack (at it) with my right foot and it was placed pretty well. The second one... I am pretty confident with PK's (penalty kicks), so I just walked up there and took it."
On her team's offensive output versus Arizona...
"I think this is what we've been waiting for because we know that we can. We finally got our offensive groove kind of going and I think we really performed well today on both sides of the ball. We know we can beat teams by a margin like that and it shows that we can contend with the top teams in our conference."
On taking part in senior day festivities...
"I was a crier. I didn't know if I was going to be a crier or not but I was. It is kind of a long process, hugging the entire team as you are walking through but the coaches had some nice things to say and it was good to see my teammates who gave us little gifts before the game. It was a pretty emotional day but I'm glad it happened."
Junior forward Jenna Richardson
On the victory...
"It is long overdue. We have been working a lot on the attack and it worked out for us today. I think we came out here and everyone was willing to attack today and it showed in the result."
On her two goals...
"I feel like I played well. I started finishing some goals after feeling like I couldn't even buy myself a goal the past couple of games, so it felt good to put those away."
POST MATCH NOTES
--The five goals scored by Oregon State were the most it's sent through an opponent's net since Sept. 16, 2011, a 7-0 win over Florida International.
--Jenna Richardson's two goals now give her 24 total for her career, putting her just two away from tying Kela Hinds (1988-90) for fifth place on the all-time program list.
--Richardson also scored two goals for the second time this season, her first match with a pair came on Sept. 22 vs. Utah.
--Megan Miller scored two goals in a match for the first time in her career.
--The nine combined points between Miller and Richardson were the most by two OSU teammates since Nov. 12, 2010 when Richardson and Courtney Wetzel combined for nine as well... Richardson had three goals on the day, while Wetzel tallied a trio of assists.
--Jessica Niewoehner had two assists in a match for the first time in her career... she had just one coming into Sunday.
--The Beavers have now won 11 matches in a season for the 11th time and for the fourth time in the Linus Rhode era (since 2008).
--Oregon State has now beaten Arizona in four-straight matches dating back to 2009 and is 10-7-1 against the Wildcats all-time.
--Head coach Linus Rhode won his 60th career match as OSU head coach, putting him just 21 away from tying Steve Fennah (1998-2007), who had 81.
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