One Shot The Difference As Beavers Down Bulldogs 1-0
9/17/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
SPOKANE, Wash. - One shot that did, one shot that didn't.
That was the difference Saturday as Oregon State University (2-3-1) made a 1-0 lead stand up to defeat Gonzaga University (2-3-0) in a non-conference men's soccer match in front of 708 fans at Gonzaga Soccer Field.
The one that didn't came just 1:16 into the match when Greg Carter's free kick from about 25 yards on the right wing was tipped over the upper right V of the net by Beavers' keeper Steve Spangler.
The one that did came at 32:07 when Will Seymore's corner kick ended up on the foot of Alex Eckerson at the top of the 18 and the OSU midfielder rifled a hard shot to the left half of the goal that Gonzaga keeper Ryan Caballero had little or no chance of stopping.
"One shot was the difference today," Gonzaga head coach Einar Thorarinsson said. "He hit it well."
The Bulldogs were also swarming the net in the final seconds, but Spangler came away with the ball in a melee at the right post and the final 10 seconds counted down to preserve the OSU victory.
But Thorarinsson is hopeful the loss wasn't doubly painful in the injury department as starters Nick Hamer and James Matern both left the match with knee injuries. Hamer left the match at 14:16 and Matern at 64:55.
"Losing Nick early hurt us. He's our spark plug," Thorarinsson said. "I think Nick should be okay, but we don't want to lose James for the season. I was about ready to sub James out, too."
Matern will be re-evaluated Sunday.
The Bulldogs were also without the services of starting midfielder Justin Hill who was injured in Wednesday's victory at Seattle University and held out of action Saturday.
Caballero was called on to make some tough saves to keep the Bulldogs in the match. He got a little help from Carter at 25:57 when OSU's Emery Welshman got the ball deep on the right side and Carter cleared the shot at the near post. A minute later Alex Penny made a left-to-right shot that Caballero made a diving stop on.
In the second half, with OSU clinging to the 1-0 lead, Caballero made another diving stop to his right on a shot to the far post by Mike Reckmeyer at 65:23, and Caballero deflected a Welshman shot from the right top of the 6 over the net at 86:43 as the Beavers pressed for the insurance goal.
"Ryan made some great saves today," Thorarinsson said. "He definitely helped keep us in the match."
Thorarinsson believed "we had them in possession. I felt we out-played them. Their game is in the air winning air balls, and they did a good job of that."
The Bulldogs will be at Oregon State next weekend for the Hensor/Zaher Nike Classic, facing Cal State Bakersfield Friday and UMKC Saturday.
