Beavers look to build on offensive success they had last week against Stanford

It’s all eyes forward for the Oregon State Women’s Soccer team as they look to build momentum coming off of the close loss to Stanford last week heading into two games at home against the Arizona schools this week.

The Beavers (5-8-2 0-6 Pac-12) will take on Arizona State this Thursday and Arizona this Sunday at Paul Lorenz Field in Corvallis

“I thought last game was fantastic,” said Head Coach Linus Rhode, “We want the same mentality out of the team this week.”

The Beavers look to continue their offensive success that began last week against Stanford where the Beavers scored two goals after only scoring one throughout the previous five conference games. Arizona State (6-6-2 1-4-1) and Arizona (6-7-1 1-5-0) both allow just under two goals per game in conference play, which is slightly higher than the sub 1.5 goals allowed per game of Stanford.

“I’m really confident in us, I think we showed a lot of potential in the Stanford game,” junior forward Nikki Faris said,  “We need to focus on the game plan all week and realize we can be the ones attacking.”

Defensively last week Oregon State allowed only one goal in the first 75 minutes, but a late penalty kick and a score in the last seconds of the game let Stanford slip by with the win. This week the Beavers look to limit scoring from the Arizona Schools who are averaging under one goal per game in the Pac-12. Coach Rhode said that mainly the coaching staff just wants the team to play with a killer instinct late in the game.

Junior defender Kathryn Baker says that her team this week needs to “Play super tight together, because as soon as we play like individuals (that’s how) goals get scored.”

The Beavers are still looking for their first conference win in a tough Pac-12 conference. The games this week would be a great place to start as the team will be on the road for the rest of the season after these two games finish up a three game home stand. The Beavers have played much better at home all season (4-4-2 at home 1-4-0 on the road). The team says they need to focus on the games all week in order to be prepared.

Coach Rhode says “As a staff we feel good, and I’m sure the girls feel good.”