Men’s Soccer: OSU, SDSU Play to 2-2 Tie

The Beavers now take a week off, then end the regular season with a non-conference game at Cal State Northridge on Tuesday, Oct. 31st, followed by the Pac-10 finale at home against Washington on Friday, Nov. 3rd.

Photo courtesy: OSU Athletics

CORVALLIS - The Oregon State men’s soccer team ended its losing streak in Pacific-10 Conference play on Sunday afternoon at Lorenz Field, but had to settle for a 2-2 tie against San Diego State.

The Beavers (5-10-2, 0-8-1) began the conference season with eight straight losses.

They were poised to win this one after sophomore forward Robby Christner scored in the 84th minute to give OSU a 2-1 lead, but San Diego State’s Evan Toft tied the game in the 88th minute.

The Aztecs (7-5-3, 3-2-2) earned their second tie of the weekend and played in their third straight overtime game.

“I thought the guys battled really hard today,” OSU coach Dana Taylor said. “We got a lot out of our goalkeeping today. Jason Mariner made a couple of very good saves, which you need in the course of a game. That built confidence for the defense. I thought our defenders battled and we never gave up. Having lost as many as we have in the Pac-10, and to get scored on with two minutes left to tie it, the guys kept fighting, which is a real testament to their willingness to battle through it. I am pleased with the guys and I thought they did everything they could do on the day.”

After a scoreless first half, the Aztecs got on the board first in the 58th minute. Some nice passing up the right side helped free Daniel Ortega in the middle, and he laid a through ball toward the goal. SDSU’s Raul Bautista ran onto it and his sliding attempt went left of the goalkeeper and into the net. It was his second goal of the season.

The Beavers came right back, however, tying the game in the 60th minute. Following a corner kick, senior forward Robbie Findley (Phoenix, Ariz.) had the ball on the left side of the box, and he sent a cross to the far post. Senior defender Matt Bowman used all of his 6-foot-1 height to jump up and meet the ball with his head, sending it just under the crossbar for the equalizer. It was Bowman’s first career goal.

OSU took its 2-1 lead on Christner’s second goal of the season. Sophomore defender Joey Loreth sent in a free kick from the middle of the field. Senior forward Bryan Jordan chested it down in the left side of the box and pushed it forward to Christner, who drove it home from 10 yards away.

Unfortunately, the Beaver lead didn’t last as the Aztecs tied the game with less than 2 ½ minutes to play. SDSU’s Andrew DiCicco had a throw-in on the right side deep in Beaver territory. He gave it to Toft, who turned and dribbled a couple of times toward the right corner of the box. He was given room to shoot, and his high, hard attempt was perfectly angled into the upper-left corner.

There weren’t too many scoring opportunities in the 20 minutes of overtime, but OSU got an advantage in the 99th minute. Findley dribbled past two Aztec defenders and had a breakaway on goal. Just outside the box, he was taken down from behind by SDSU’s Ryan Reott. Reott was red carded and OSU was awarded a free kick from about 22 yards. OSU’s shot attempt went right into the wall, however.

There were plenty of other scoring chances throughout the game and both goalkeepers did well to prevent their sides from losing. OSU junior Jason Mariner, making only his third start of the season, had six saves, including several acrobatic stops. In the 46th minute, he made a kick save on a close-range shot by Ortega. In the 76th minute, Bautista had a one-time attempt from inside 10 yards, and Mariner barely tipped the ball wide of the goal. With the clock ticking down in regulation, Kevin Werbner took a last-gasp 40-yard shot. It was headed to the upper-right-hand corner of the net before Mariner made a leaping attempt to tip it over the bar. Mariner foiled a shot in the 93rd minute in similar fashion, tipping over an attempt by Matt Lemire from 18 yards away.

SDSU goalkeeper Tally Hall had five saves. In the 38th minute, he made a low diving save on a header off a corner kick from junior forward Brett Gardner. In the 79th minute, Jordan got free and blasted the ball toward goal from eight yards away, and Hall got his hands up, almost in self-defense, to punch the ball away. In the 81st minute, Gardner hit a long-range bending shot that forced Hall to make an impressive leap and catch.

OSU had some other fine attempts as well. Gardner hit the crossbar with a hard shot in the 15th minute, and also put a header off the post in the 49th minute before being called for offsides.

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