Gonzaga University
Oregon State
MSOC Takes Down No. 13 Oregon State
9/22/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
SPOKANE, Wash. â€" Gonzaga's men's soccer team wrapped up its six-game homestand in style with a 2-1 win over No. 13 Oregon State on Tuesday at Luger Field.
The win is Gonzaga's first over a ranked opponent in exactly two years, as the Bulldogs took down No. 21 Wisconsin 2-0 on Sept. 22, 2013. It's also the highest-ranked win since defeating No. 1 UC-Santa Barbara on Sept. 2, 2007 and the program's 12th over a top-15 team.
Sophomore Christo Michaelson notched his first-career goal, and first career points of any sort to get GU on the board first. Team-scoring leader Jakob Granlund then collected the eventual game-winner for the upset victory. Granlund now has a team-best five points with two goals and an assists on the season.
"It's pretty tough to shut them down, they are a good attacking team," head coach Einar Thorarinsson said. "We were trying to shut down their outside play, and we came up big a couple times. I've got to credit Chris [Lowrimore] for his leadership back there in goal, and David [Sigurdsson] is a bulldog and goes and wins the battle on defense."
The Zags came out of the gates in attacking mode, putting the pressure on the Oregon State backline. In just the fourth minute, Oregon State goalkeeper Nolan Wirth played a ball out from the top of the box and put himself dangerously out of position. As the ball careened out near midfield, sophomore forward Christo Michaelson collected it and sent in a shot from about 40 yards out. The shot caught Wirth too far away from the goal and sailed in the net for a 1-0 GU lead.
"We have been talking about coming out stronger since our loss," Thorarinsson said. "Today we came out that way and held on throughout the match."
From there, Gonzaga clamped down on the defensive end and held Oregon State to just two shots in the first half. In the 27th minute, senior Conner Bevans sent a perfect long pass ahead for Granlund, who corralled the ball and shot it past Wirth for a 2-0 lead, which put Gonzaga in command of the game.
Oregon State pulled within a goal in the 55th minute when Jordan Jones beat GU keeper Chris Lowrimore. Hassani Dotson collected the assist.
The Beavers tried to put the pressure on down the stretch, but Gonzaga's defense wouldn't budge. The Zags didn't allow any shots on goal other than the one that led to OSU's goal.
Gonzaga wrapped up a six-game homestand with a 3-2-1 record to bring them to 4-3-1 overall. The Zags now hit the road for the next six matches, starting with a rematch from last season with UNLV in Las Vegas, Nev., on Sept. 27 at 10:30 a.m. GU beat the Rebels 4-2 last season in Spokane.
