With her 193rd career save in the second-to-last minute of a rainy soccer match Saturday afternoon, senior goalkeeper Mya Sanchez moved to eighth all-time on the Oregon State University leaderboard.
Sanchez’s clean sheet and three saves contributed to a 0-0 final score as the Beaver Women’s Soccer team tied the University of the Pacific at Corvallis’ Paul Lorenz Field on “Senior Saturday.” The game marked OSU’s first shutout of the season.
Ahead of the match, the senior and fifth-year players on Oregon State’s roster were honored on the field with their families, receiving bouquets and framed jerseys.
“Man, I’m going to miss them,” Beavers Head Coach Caroline Kelly said after the game. “They’re one of my favorite groups I’ve ever had.”
After raining all morning, the sun started to poke through the overcast skies as the match began at noon. Despite the slick pitch, Oregon State got off to a fast start, with senior forward Lindsey Antonson recording two shots in the first four minutes.
The Tigers didn’t get their first shot until the 12th when a kick from Pacific senior forward Haley Johnson missed right.
It was a back and forth first half, but at the 45-minute mark Oregon State had 10 shots to Pacific’s two. The Beavers also forced three saves.
Around five minutes into the second half, the rain began to pour down. It lasted around 20 minutes, and at one point an OSU player attempting a throw-in had the ball slip out of her hands.
“There was some adversity with the weather but they just kept playing through it,” Kelly said. “They were committed to that. I was really proud of them.”
The Beavers couldn’t capitalize on a corner kick in the 46th minute, and the Tigers doubled their shot total with attempts on the goal in the 50th and 52nd. But as the precipitation increased, so did the scoring opportunities for both sides.
“It was crazy,” Sanchez said. “The wind was blowing the rain right into my face. I had to shield with my hand and it was, like, impossible to see. … It was crazy weather.”
Oregon State came the closest to a goal in the 55th and 58th minutes with a pair of shots that barely missed high. The latter, an arcing kick from Alyssa White from outside the penalty box, soared over the Pacific goalie’s gloves before glancing off the crossbar. The freshman midfielder’s plant foot had slipped.
Sanchez got some help from her defense later in the game, with senior defender Megin Turi saving a shot on goal in the 67th minute off a Pacific corner kick. In a tense 79th minute, Pacific had a free kick opportunity just outside the Oregon State penalty box that deflected off a wall of Beaver defenders.
“Shout out to the defense. Shout out to the midfield,” Sanchez said. “Honestly, everybody on this field today gave it their all. We were defending for our lives there in the last 45 minutes. Super proud of how everybody played.”
As the game clock drew closer to 90 minutes, both teams saw some late scoring opportunities. However, it was Pacific that out-shot the Beavers eight to three in the second period.
Sanchez recorded her final save of the game in the 89th, catching a ball that marked the Tigers’ last shot of the afternoon.
“I’ve had the privilege of coaching three very good keepers since being here,” Kelly said. “(Sanchez) took the reins from one of them, and she just grabbed them and never looked back. She’s done a great job for us. I’m really proud of her consistency, growth – getting better every game, and her leadership too. It’s been really good.”
After the game, the names of the OSU senior and fifth-year players were read out on the stadium speakers: Lindsey Antonson, Paola Figueroa, Emily Ibsen, Nathalie Mejia, Kassidy Michael, Madison Paolini, Mya Sanchez, Megin Turi, Carly Carraher, Rin Choi and Sawyer Service.
“It’s a unique group, right?” Kelly said. “We’ve got some women who’ve been here for four years. We got some women who’ve been here five and then some women we just had transfer in. So I thought the way that they’ve come in and been cohesive as a unit to lead this group and move forward has been really impressive and (I’m) very, very proud of them.”
After the tie, the Beavers are now 2-9-5 on the season, breaking a two-game losing streak. The Tigers move to 4-6-6. The Beavers currently sit last place in the West Coast Conference with three games left in their 2025 season.
Sanchez needs seven more saves to reach the 200 mark; she’s close to passing Hailey Coll (200 saves, seventh place) and Elizabeth Pease (201 saves, sixth place) on the leaderboard. The Beavers’ women’s soccer program started counting the statistics in 1993.
Next up for Oregon State will be a Nov. 1 match at Seattle University. The Beavers’ last home game will be Nov. 5 against Saint Mary’s at 5 p.m.
“We’re chipping away at it this whole year and continuing to make progress,” Kelly said. “And so I think for us, it’s just really important to finish on a good note, right? Just set us up for success into next year.”
