Oregon State Women's Soccer Weekly Recap: Beavers Stay Undefeated in Conference Play
Oregon State Women's Soccer welcomed a pair of California schools to Corvallis last week, with the Beavers looking to stay undefeated in the West Coast Conference. They did so with gusto, picking up a pair of 2 goal wins, 2-0 versus San Francisco and 3-1 versus San Diego. The wins mean the Beavers sit at 6-6-1 overall, and 4-0-1 in the conference.
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First up was a visit from the San Francisco Dons last Wednesday. Oregon State's defense has done a great job at controlling the pace of games recently, and the match against the Dons was no different. San Francisco got very little time near the Oregon State goal, taking only 4 shots in the first half, only one of which was on target.
It took some time for the Beavers to convert their control of possession into scoring, but right before the end of the first half they finally drew blood. McKenna Martinez got the ball in front of the San Francisco goal but was blocked off by the Dons' defense. She managed to find a charging Valerie Tobias for the Beavers first goal of the night.
45' | AND THERE'S THE BREAKTHROUGH!
— Oregon State Women's Soccer (@BeaverWSoccer) October 10, 2024
It's Val Tobias who deflects us into the lead!#GoBeavs pic.twitter.com/hCjkUQTmSp
The two players switched positions for the second. This time it was Tobias setting up Martinez, who launched a shot from deep that found it's target for a 2 goal lead in the 58th minute. The rest of the second half was much the same as the first, San Francisco had few opportunities to take a shot and Mya Sanchez and the OSU defense took care of the few shots they saw.
Saturday it was San Diego's turn to come to Corvallis. The Toreros put up a better fight than the Dons but this was still a strong performance from the Beavers. Mya Sanchez was tested much more Saturday night, with San Diego putting six shots on goal, but she managed to block five of them and the Beavers offense did the rest.
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The first goal for Oregon State came in the 20th minute, with Paola Figueroa setting up Carly Carraher, who slipped the ball right inside the right post. Carraher also scored the Beavers second goal of the day, in the 70th minute, after picking up a rebound off of a save. The final Oregon State goal came courtesy of McKenna Martinez in the 73rd minute, with an assist from Rin Choi.
73' | McKenna Martinez makes it THREE 👏
— Oregon State Women's Soccer (@BeaverWSoccer) October 12, 2024
That's now four this season and 32 as a Beaver, which gives her sole possession of third place on the program's all-time goalscoring list.#GoBeavs pic.twitter.com/cwAC5o5FQk
San Diego scored their first goal only 30 seconds after the Beavers last, but the comeback never got any closer.
A lot of Beavers looked great last week, but I'll give a particular shout out to Mya Sanchez and McKenna Martinez, who have really come into their own in the past few weeks. Sanchez has become one of the best goalies in the WCC, while Martinez has established herself as one of Oregon State's top scoring threats.
Up next for the Beavers is another pair of home games against California schools. Oregon State faces Loyola Marymount next Wednesday, and will face Pepperdine the following Sunday. These two should be tougher than the other conference opponents the Beavers have faced so far this season, so this will be a good test of whether they can compete for the West Coast crown.
Having grown up in Pocatello, home of the Idaho State Bengals, John Severs is a lifelong fan of small schools that don't always deliver a lot of wins. Prior to writing for Sports Illustrated, John covered the Beavers for SB Nation's Oregon State blog Building the Dam, with a focus on baseball and women's basketball. When he's not watching college sports he spends most of his time reading, playing video games and annoying cats.