Washington Nips OSU, 1-0

The Beavers next take part in the annual Civil War battle against Oregon, Friday in Eugene.

Photo: OSU Athletics

CORVALLIS - For the second time this weekend, the Oregon State women’s soccer team couldn’t convert any of its scoring chances, and the Beavers suffered a 1-0 defeat to Washington in a Pacific-10 Conference game on Sunday afternoon at Lorenz Field.

On a windy and rainy day, Katie Hall scored on a fluky 45-yard free kick in the 17th minute to lead the Huskies (6-8-0, 1-2) over the Beavers (8-5-2, 1-3). OSU also lost 1-0 at home on Friday to Washington State.

“Again, we came away with nothing result-wise,” OSU Coach Steve Fennah said. “Obviously it was a disappointment. I thought we did the right thing a lot of the game. We gave up a very soft goal and that allowed Washington to sit in a little bit. The unfortunate thing about the goal is we gave it away at a time when we were playing pretty well.”

Both of Washington’s best scoring attempts came from long-range early in the first half. Three minutes in, Hall tried one from 40 yards. The ball went high, then dipped down and hit off the crossbar.

Hall didn’t mean to score on her next attempt. She took a free kick from the left side, about 45 yards away. A Husky teammate leaped up to try to head the ball in the box, but it was just out of her reach. OSU’s goalkeeper was coming out to get the ball, but the near-header caused her to freeze, and the ball bounced past her. The Beaver defenders weren’t able to catch up to the ball before it made it past the goal line, and Hall had her first goal of the season at 16:04.

It took 30 minutes for OSU to take its first shot, but then the Beavers finished the first half with a flurry of opportunities. In the 37th minute, freshman forward Jessica Velazquez got the ball on the left side of the box. UW goalkeeper Kelsey Rasmussen came out to challenge Velazquez and poked the ball a couple of yards outside of the box. Velazquez recollected the ball and turned, and had a chance at a fairly-wide open net, but hit it high.

In the 40th minute, junior defender Monica Storm got her head on a free kick, but her shot attempt hit the outside of the right post and went wide. Then, in the 41st minute, off a short corner kick, junior forward Jodie Taylor bent a ball that went off the top of the crossbar and over.

The Beavers had their second burst of chances early in the second half. In the 55th minute, an OSU player sent in a long ball to the edge of the box. Taylor sprinted past the defense and flicked the ball past the oncoming goalkeeper. Taylor couldn’t get much on it, however, and the UW defense recovered to clear the ball away before it could go in.

The Huskies caught a major break in the 58th minute. Taylor had a breakaway and would have only had the goalkeeper to beat, but she was tripped from behind by a UW defender just outside the box. The Husky player was only issued a yellow card, and to make matters worse, Taylor, OSU’s leading scorer, left the game with an ankle injury. OSU’s shot attempt on the ensuing free kick was saved by Rasmussen.

About a minute later, Storm sent in a free kick, and freshman forward Emily Henshaw ran onto the ball, and from about 10 yards out, she tried to poke the ball past the goalkeeper. It went inches wide right.

Taylor didn’t return until two minutes left in the game, and OSU’s offense struggled to create more opportunities without her. Washington had a couple of decent shot attempts down the stretch, however, and the Husky defense held for the shutout victory.

There were 39 fouls in the game and Washington committed 25, nearly doubling the previous season high by an OSU opponent.

Goals: Katie Hall, UW, 16:04.

Shots: OSU 10, UW 11

Corner Kicks: OSU 1, UW 4

Fouls: OSU 14, UW 25

Saves: OSU 3, UW 3

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