Oregon State Men Tie UC Irvine 3-3 in Season Opener

16 hours ago 21

In a resilient display to open the season, the Oregon State Men's Soccer team battled the UC Irvine Anteaters to a 3-3 tie, despite being down a man for the entirety of the second half. Oreogn State's defense stymied the Anteaters, while they're attackers made some big plays to even up the game to start the season 0-0-1.

It didn't take long for UC Irvine to get on the scoreboard. The Anteaters went on the attack early, and in the fourth minute forward Gage Lyons drew a foul near the Oregon State goal. Lyons was given a penalty kick, and his shot sailed pass Beaver goalkeeper John Nicholson to put Irvine up 1-0 minutes into the game.

Max Eisenberg got the first shot for the Beavers in the fifth minute but missed the net. Wyatt Borso almost tied the game for Oregon State in the eighteenth minute but Irvine goalkeeper Joe O'Shaughnessy made a divine save to keep the Beavers scoreless.

Oregon State finally found the net in the 22nd minute, after Jacob Zapien stole the ball from Zac Smuck. Zapien got the ball to Max Eisenberg, who got the ball to Michael Nesci near the goal line, and Eisenberg slipped the ball through the Anteater defenders to Oliver Hernandez Parra in front of the net. O'Shaughnessy had no chance to block Hernandez Parra's shot, tying the game 1-1.

The Anteaters responded a few minutes later. Marcus Lee managed to slip past the Oregon State defense in the 26th minute, and passed the ball to Christian Gallo in front of the net. Gallo got the ball past John Nicholson with a header to put UC Irvine up 2-1.

Oregon State got a few chances to tie the game over the rest of the first half, with a free kick in the 40th minute setting up their best chance, but Diego Rodriguez's shot went right to the chest of Joe O'Shaughnessy. The Beavers were hit with a disaster in the 43rd minute, when after a turnover Oregon State captain Jacob Zapien dragged Irvine's Isaiahs Guitierrez to the turf, picking up a red card.

If the Beavers were going to tie the game, they were going to have to do it with ten men and half the game to go. They found their tying goal early in the second half. The team cmae out of the locker room on fire, and in the 47th minute a corner from Michael Nesci found Gavin Wolf in front of the goal, who headed the ball past Joe O'Shaugnessy.

As the half wore on the Anteaters pressed their advantage. Starting around the 58 minute mark UC Irvine kept the pressure on the Oregon State goal, with several shots coming. In the 66th minute one finally got past John Nicholson, with Isaac Powell scoring to put the Anteaters up 3-2.

UC Irvine settled into a more defensive posture as the game wore on, but Oregon State didn't quit. In the 77th minute, Oregon State was awarded a free kick near the Irvine goal, and Max Eisenberg put a lot of speed into his shot, putting it into the net to tie the game 3-3.

Feeling the win slipping away from them, the Anteaters pressed the attack in the final ten minutes. They were relentless in keeping the ball near the Oregon State goal, but the Beavers defense frustrated them endlessly. The Anteaters got one last chance with a corner kick with 30 seconds to go, but could not get a shot on target, ending the game in a 3-3 tie.

The Beavers will be back in a few days to take on another tough Big West opponent. They'll face Cal State Fullerton on Sunday, August 23rd, with kick off set for 7 PM Pacific.

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