Beavers Set for Long-Awaited Home Game
September 29, 2015 | Women's Soccer
The Weekend: The Oregon State women's soccer team (4-2-3, 0-1-0 Pac-12) will return home for the first time in over a month this week, when the Beavers play host to Utah (3-4-3, 0-1-0) and Colorado (7-2-1, 1-0-0). OSU will take on the Utes Friday at 4 p.m., before facing the Buffaloes Sunday at 11 a.m.
Follow Along: Friday's game will be carried live on Pac-12 Network, Pac-12 Oregon and Pac-12 Mountain. JB Long and Tracey Bailey will have the call. Live stats for both matches will be available on the women's soccer schedule page of OSUBeavers.com. For all things Oregon State women's soccer, follow @OSUWSoccer on Twitter.
Quite the Start: Oregon State finished nonconference play with a record of 4-1-3, with their only loss coming on the road at No. 8 BYU. The start to the season was the Beavers' best since they entered conference play with a record of 8-1-0 in 2012, and OSU's record this season is especially impressive considering the squad finished 2014 at 0-17-3.
After scoring four goals all of last season, Oregon State has more than doubled that total already in its first nine matches. Six different players have scored a goal this season, led by freshman Allison Pantuso with three. Freshman Mariah Roggow has scored twice, while sophomores Emma Jones and Natalie Higgins, and juniors Helene Haavik and Greta Espinoza have found the back of the net one time each.
Dominant Defense: Oregon State has held its opponents to just six goals in the first nine matches of the year, including four shutouts.
Go Geist: Sophomore Bella Geist made her mark on the Oregon State squad in her freshman campaign, recording 126 saves, the second-highest total in single-season school history. She has already recorded four clean sheets this year, giving her seven shutouts in her career. With 38 saves this season, she has 164 in her career and needs 24 more to move into sixth on Oregon State's career list (Sammy-Jo Prudhomme, 188, 2012-13).
Hitting the Road: Friday's game will be the Beavers' first home game in 33 days, as the squad makes its return to Paul Lorenz Field for the first time since Aug. 31. The nearly five-week stretch of road games has seen the Beavers take on some very difficult opposition, including No. 8 BYU, SEC foe Missouri, Big 12 opponents Kansas and Texas, and Pac-12 foe USC.
Wasting No Time: Oregon State freshmen Allison Pantuso and Mariah Roggow have already accounted for half of the Beavers 10 goals this season. Pantuso has netted three goals in eight substitute appearances, while Roggow has scored two while starting all seven matches. Sophomores Emma Jones and Natalie Higgins have tallied on goal apiece as well, giving the underclassmen a total of eight goals. The only Oregon State upperclassmen to score this year are juniors Helene Haavik and Greta Espinoza.
America's Team to Beaver Nation: Junior McKenzie Redberg has taken an unusual path to the Oregon State women's soccer team, serving a four-year stint in the United States Air Force prior to enrolling at OSU. Redberg, a medic during her years of service, is a Corvallis native and graduate of Corvallis High School. She has made three appearances for the Beavers this season.
Sophomore Up: Entering the 2015 season, 10 of Oregon State's 26 players are sophomores. Many members of that group gained valuable experience as freshmen last season. Kayla Latham and Miranda Stiver both found the net in their debut campaigns, while Nikki Faris, Maddie Misi, Natalie Higgins and Stiver each started all 20 games in 2014 as freshmen.
Game On Greta: Greta Espinoza joined 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. 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.
Getting Schooled: Five Beavers earned Academic All-Pac-12 honors last year, 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.
Get the (Pac-12) Net: The Beavers will make six appearances on Pac-12 Networks this season, beginning with the home opener against Fresno State. OSU will also appear on TV on Friday Oct. 2 vs. Utah, Thursday Oct. 8 at Stanford, Friday Oct. 30 vs. Washington, Sunday Nov. 1 vs. Washington State and Friday Nov. 6 vs. Oregon. The Beavers will also be on TV against Missouri on Friday, Sept. 4 (SEC Network) and Texas on Thursday, Sept. 10 (Longhorn Network).
