Oregon State University opened its men’s soccer season with a 3-0 victory over UC Santa Barbara on Thursday night, giving first-year head coach Jarred Brookings a winning Beaver debut.
In front of an energized home crowd, the Beavers displayed sharpness on both ends of the pitch, pulling away with two second-half goals to seal the clean sheet.
Oregon State outshot the Gauchos 13-8 and limited them to just one attempt on target, while five different Beavers tallied either a goal or an assist in a balanced offensive effort.
“I think the first half was actually very hectic. I felt like we didn’t have as much control as we should have,” Brookings said.
The breakthrough came late in the first half after a tense opening stretch. In the 45th minute, midfielder Arnau Farnos slotted home his first goal of the season, finishing a smooth sequence built through Fabian Straudi and Andrew De Gannes.
“That sequence there was really one of the first times that we had a good passage of play and we had the ball for a second, and we had some good control,” Brookings said. “It’s a specific pattern we run and it worked out really great.”
The goal gave Oregon State a 1-0 advantage heading into the break and set the tone for the second period.
The Beavers doubled their lead only nine minutes into the second period. Forward Nico Nee calmly converted after a setup from Farnos and De Gannes. Nee had been active throughout the match, pressing the Gaucho backline and finding pockets of space.
In the 73rd minute, Oregon State added its final goal. Straudi, who had been lively all night, found the back of the net off an assist from Nee. The three-goal cushion allowed Oregon State to play steady defense to preserve the shutout.
Statistically, Oregon State’s control was evident. They finished with five shots on goal compared to UCSB’s single attempt and earned six corner kicks. Goalkeeper John Nicolson absorbed pressure calmly all night, limiting nearly all second chances. Nicolson recorded the easiest of clean sheets, needing just one save across 90 minutes.
Farnos, Nee, and Straudi each finished with a goal and at least one assist. De Gannes added two assists from his defensive position, highlighting the Beavers’ balanced offense.
For Brookings, the win on his first night carried special meaning, but his focus is narrow: “The scoreboard is pretty,” he said. “There’s plenty still to work on, and there are some specific things that I didn’t think we were great at tonight, but we did enough.”
The victory gives Oregon State a 1-0-0 start to the season and may set the tone for the Beavers under Brookings.
The men’s soccer team will next play the University of Washington at Paul Lorenz field in Corvallis on Sunday at 7:30 p.m.
