Oregon State Men Shut Out by Utah Valley in 1-0 Loss

On Saturday nightThe Pac-12 leading Oregon State Beavers and the Big West leading Utah Valley Wolverines met for one final game in the crossover series between the two conferences, with a win for either side boosting the case for an eventual NCAA tournament bid. In the end, it was Utah Valley who prevailed, riding a stout defense to a 1-0 win over the 21st ranked Beavers, dropping their record to 8-4-4 overall, and 3-1-1 in conference play.

The only scoring in Saturday came late, in the 84th minute, when a charging Luca Wingaa Laursen found Jose Luis Martin Montealegre in the box. Martin Montealegre quickly fired a shot, and there was no way for Oregon State goalkeeper John Nicolson to react in time to save the deciding goal.

Oregon State had scant few opportunities to get past the Utah Valley defense, who shut down most of the Beavers best attackers. The Beavers took only seven shots Saturday night, and only got one corner kick. The Wolverines just didn't give Oregon State any room to work with.

The Beavers best chance came in the 49th minute. when a free kick from Tim Hoffman found Milo Wray with room for a shot. Wray's shot was blocked by what was determined to be a team save, but he picked up the rebound a fired a second shot. This time Utah Valley goalkeeper Kolby Sessions made the save. Those were the only two shots on goal for the Beavers in last night's game.

This loss contributes to the mounting struggles the Beavers have faced in the last few weeks. After a strong start to the season, the Beavers picked up back to back losses against CSU Bakersfield and Cal Poly. The loss to Utah Valley means the Beavers have lost three of their last four games.

That means winning the Pac-12 is more crucial. There's a case to be made that even if they don't win the conference title the Beavers are still a tournament team, but at that point the Beavers would be a five loss team, and it's not an argument you want to be making.

Better than to win the Pac-12. The Beavers are now a point back from the conference leading Cal Baptist Lancers, but CBU has finished their conference schedule. The Beavers have one last game against Gonzaga, who sit in the Pac-12 cellar. With the Beavers owning the tiebreaker over the Lancers, a win or tie is all they need.

Of course, that only insures home field advantage for the conference tournament. Even after next Saturday's game against Gonzaga, there's a lot of work to be done if the Beavers want to return to the postseason.

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