Washington State Hands Beavers 3-1 Loss in Pac-12 Opener

Oregon State Women's Soccer's struggles followed them into the start of Pac-12 play. In the conference opener Washington State took an early lead over the Beavers and coasted to a 3-1 win. The loss drops Oregon State's record to 1-9-2 overall, and 0-1-0 in conference play.

The Cougars struck early, picking up a goal in the third minute. A long pass from Emma Widmor got the ball to Delaney Hawkins, who rushed behind the Beaver defense and got a clean shot off at Libby Brooker. It found the bottom left of the goal, putting Washington State up 1-0.

Hawkins added on another for the Cougars just a few minutes later. In the seventh minute Calli Holje fired a pass to Hawkins, who found a big gap in the Beaver defense to give her another one on one shot at Libby Brooker. Hawkins shot was good, and less than 10 minutes into the game Washington State had a two goal lead.

Oregon State got a bit of offense in after the Washington State scores, with Lea Gentry getting off a pair of shots, the Beavers' first of the night. While the early minutes had been all Washington State, the Beavers managed some consistent offense after the 10 minute mark. They just couldn't find a goal.

Unfortunately, it was the Cougars who scored next. In the 27th minute Ashlyn Sandow took a corner for Washington State, Sandow found Riley Carolan in front of the goal, who launched a header into the net, putting the Cougars up 3-0. They would hold that lead for the rest of the first half.

The Beavers kept finding chances in the second half, but they didn't get on the scoreboard until late in the game. In the 79th minute a shot from Emily Brandt hit the top crossbar and dropped right in front of Washington State goalkeeper Ashlyn Dvorak. Before Dvorak could handle it, London Tsuma raced up and shot the ball past her to get the Beavers the goal.

That would be the last gasp for the Oregon State offense. The Cougars had been playing for time for most of the second half, and the Beavers had simply run out of time for many more chances. Emily Brandt got one last shot off for the Beavers in the 88th minute, but it missed the mark, sealing the win for the Cougars.

The Beavers have a week to prepare for their next game, and they'll be back in Corvallis for that one. They'll host San Diego State next Thursday, October 8th, with kick off set for 6 PM Pacific.

Add us as a preferred source on Google