Oregon State Men's Soccer Preview: Beavers Take On Cal State Fullerton Sunday Night

After gutting out a 3-3 draw while down a man against UC Irvine, Oregon State is back in action tonight on the road against another tough California school. They'll take on Cal State Fullerton looking to pick up their first win of the season, but the Titans aren't going to make it easy.

This game will be the season opener for the Titans, who are looking to prove themselves in an incredibly competitive Big West Conference. Fullerton picked up one first place vote in the conference's preseason poll, but still only finished fourth in the rankings. If they want to prove they're contenders, taking down the Beavers would go a long way.

If they're going to beat the Beavers, they're going to step up their defense. Last year the Titans were third to last in the conference in goals allowed with 31, and a 1.55 goals against average. The Titans did improve in the latter half of the season, when Asger Hemmer gook over goalkeeping duties. He finished the year with an 0.86 GAA, and will likely be the full time starter in 2026.

Logan Mahoney and Julian Borja give the Titans a pair of defenders with a solid amount of starting experience, and midfielder Jose de la Torre has a strong defensive game, so there's some room for growth here. The Beavers managed to score two goals shorthanded against what should be a pretty strong UC Irvine defense though, so controlling the Oregon State offense is going to be a challenge.

The midfield is where the Titans should be their strongest. De la Torre was last year's Big West Midfielder of the Year, finishing the year with four goals and seven assists to lead Fullerton in points. De la Torre and fellow midfielder Fernando Valenzuela made the Big West's All Preseason team. Valenzuela also had four goals last season.

The team is going to have some big shoes to fill at forward with the departure of Mario Carlos, who led the team with seven goals last season. Fitz Williams is the team's best returning forward at the position, with two goals last season, but the team has several transfers who will be competing for time on the field.

Cal State Fullerton was a high scoring team last season, leading the Big West with 32 goals scored. While the team has some questions at forward, that shouldn't change much this season. Combined with the ability to score the Beavers demonstrated against UC Irvine, Sunday Night's game should be a high scoring one.

We'll see tonight, with kickoff set for 7 PM Pacific.

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