As this season has shown, when Stanford and Oregon State play each other, fans can expect there to be plenty of goals.
On Saturday evening in Corvallis, No. 5 Cardinal men’s soccer (8-2-1, 6-2-1 Pac-12) was beaten 3-2 by Oregon State (8-4, 5-4 Pac-12) on what was the Beavers’ senior night. This was the reverse scoreline of the two teams’ earlier season matchup, when Stanford came from behind to win in the same result.
The Cardinal wasted no time getting its attack started, scoring in the third minute. Junior midfielder Will Richmond sent in a cross from the left side of the pitch to find redshirt junior forward Zach Ryan unmarked in the center of the box where he was able to calmly send the ball over the goalkeeper’s head.
The lead would not last. Just seven minutes later, a Stanford turnover in the midfield allowed Oregon State sophomore midfielder Javier Armas to play a through ball behind the Stanford defense where junior forward Gloire Amanda — the nation’s leading goalscorer — found himself with acres of space and ripped his shot into the roof of the net.
The Beavers’ blitz continued in the 14th minute when they went ahead for good. Redshirt senior midfielder Tyrone Mondi got into the Cardinal’s box and broke free of his defender with a nifty cutback move before firing a shot past redshirt junior goalkeeper Andrew Thomas.
The two sides would trade attacking moves for much of the half.
In the 39th minute, Richmond nearly levelled the score for the Cardinal but his shot was wide. Two minutes later, Oregon State made him pay as junior midfielder Sofiane Djeffal took advantage of Stanford’s failure to clear the box and tapped home his team’s third goal of the evening.
At halftime, both teams had attempted six shots apiece.
The Cardinal came out of the break looking to get back into the match, and they would do just that in the 52nd minute. Richmond sent in one of his trademark crosses from the left wing, and the Beaver sophomore goalkeeper Gabriel Roman, standing in for starting junior keeper Adrian Fernandez who was out with an injury, allowed the ball to slip through his hands and give Stanford a way back.
Stanford tirelessly launched attack after attack seeking an equalizer, but its attempts were futile. In the 59th minute, sophomore forward Gabe Segal blasted a shot over the crossbar.
As the clock ticked closer and closer to the 90th minute mark, Oregon State sunk back deeper and deeper to preserve its lead. In the 81st minute, Ryan was forced to hobble off the pitch after being on the receiving end of a vicious tackle from the Beavers’ freshman defender Gael Gibert. Gibert received a yellow card for the move.
Ten minutes later, with the match on the line, Stanford earned a free kick just outside of the box for what would be the final kick of the match. Segal stepped forward to take it, hoping to recreate a few of his successful attempts from earlier in the season. However, his attempt was hit over the goal, handing Stanford a loss and Oregon State an upset victory.
The Cardinal will be back out on the pitch next Saturday, April 17 to take on Washington at 12:30 p.m. PT. The match will decide who wins the Pac-12 crown.