Oregon State Advances to Pac-12 Final With 3-1 Win Over UC Riverside

Number one seed Oregon State advanced to the finals of the Pac-12 Men's Soccer tournament with a decisive 3-1 win over UC Riverside Sunday evening, with a brace of goals from Evan Carlock carrying them them to victory. The Beavers will next face San Diego State in the Pac-12 final.

Early in the game the Highlanders managed to stop the Beavers early attacks, and got an early shot off in the fifth minute, but it didn't take Oregon State long to grab the lead. In the twelfth minute Henry Blake brought the ball in through the right wing, and fired a pass to Evan Carlock for an immediate shot. Carlock's shot found the bottom left corner for the score.

Following that the Highlander defense was generally able to stifle the Oregon State attack fairly quickly without the Beavers getting many high scoring chances. The Beavers only took one corner kick in the first half, and UC Riverside didn't give them much in the way of fast break opportunities.

Despite that, UC Riverside didn't get many scoring chances either. The Highlanders only took two shots in the half. The Beavers almost always grabbed possession back before Riverside could get any pressure on the goal. Consequently, this was a game that played out mostly at midfield, with a lot of back and forth.

Oregon State broke the pattern in the 33rd minute. Milo Wray sent the ball in toward the goal from the right field line, and Aidan Marquez found it for a shot. UCR goalkeeper Giancarlo Sagredo made the save, but couldn't corral it, and Evan Carlock immediately fired the rebound into the net for his second goal of the night.

Substitutions came in for both teams. One of the Beaver subs was Tim Hoffman, and Hoffman with fresh legs proved too dangerous for the Riverside defense. The Beaver offense attacked fast, and a scramble got the ball to Hoffman in front of the goal for another score, only thirty seconds after the previous goal. Milo Wray and Oliver Hernandez Parra picked up assists.

That was the last bit of action in the first half. The second half brought a much more aggressive UC Riverside, desperate to prevent the end of their season. The Beavers continued to play patient, knowing time was on their side, but they weren't able to keep the shut out alive.

In the 69th minute the Highlanders took a corner. The Beaver defense almost cleared it, but Riverside's Eric Martinez intercepted a pass and fired a shot past John Nicolson and into the top right corner for UCR's only goal of the night.

The Highlanders got plenty of other opportunities, but none managed to break the Beaver defense. An extended sequence in the 88th minute should have gotten Riverside a second goal, but a Nicolson save and two blocks from the Beaver defense kept the score 3-1, which would be the final.

The Pac-12 Championship will now be in Corvallis, next Saturday against San Diego State. The Aztecs, the three seed, upset two seed Cal Baptist in Friday's semifinal. When the Beavers and Aztecs met earlier this season, they drew 2-2 in Oregon State's conference opener. The rematch will determine which team gets an invitation to the NCAA Tournament.

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