Brooks Hatch

Oregon State men’s soccer coach Steve Simmons did not sugarcoat the two defensive lapses that led to two bad goals in the final 10 minutes that cost the Beavers in a very winnable game against  Stanford on Friday night at Lorenz Field.

The 3-2 loss hurt, and he wanted it to, despite the obvious strides the Beavers have made since losing 1-0 to the Cardinal at Stanford on Oct. 9.

The Cardinal’s third goal was especially galling, as it was scored after the Beavers appeared to have the play well-defended.

“It’s a shame a goal like that needs to be the difference in the match,” Simmons said. “The only thing they can do is learn from it, because right now (Friday’s)  result is over.

“There were more positives out of that game other than the scoreline, but I told them I’m not going to rob them of their disappointment. They need to be disappointed, because unfortunately it’s a results-oriented game.”

Stanford dominated early but the Beavers controlled large stretches of the second half and had been pressing for the go-ahead goal for about 10 consecutive minutes when the game swung on its axis and the Cardinal scored twice in the final 10 minutes.

“We played with more confidence on the ball,” Simmons said. “We asked  a lot of questions on their defensive end that we didn’t ask before. That  showed, and (it was apparent) how they were disorganized and how they were a step behind.

“You could see (OSU’s)  confidence.  I know when a team has confidence. Tonight we had confidence and that was huge, different than at Stanford.”

The Cardinal are ranked 18th in this week’s Soccer America poll and are a probable NCAA-tournament invitee. With that in mind, Simmons was asked, considering the two one-goal games between the teams this season, how big the gap is between the programs and how far the Beavers are behind the Cardinal.

“We’re far, but not that far,” he said. “If you want to be (as good as Stanford),  you don’t let the little things happen,” like the two defensive errors that determined Friday’s outcome.

“We’re close but it takes a mentality to do that. I’ve been with teams that could. This team can do it sometimes and sometimes they lapse back to old habits. Tonight they showed more positives than negatives, but the  biggest negative was the score.”

The Beavers play host to California at 2 p.m. Sunday in their final home game. Seniors Jordan Harris, Mike Miller and  Justin Woodward, a Corvallis High grad, will be honored before the game.

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The 25th-ranked Oregon State women’s soccer team lost 1-0 to No. 19 Washington State on Friday night in a Pacific-10 Conference women’s game at Lorenz Field.

“We played well for a majority of the match, but we let our guard down for about 20 minutes in the first half,” OSU  coach Linus Rhode said. “You cannot do that against good teams like Washington State and they made us pay.

“It’s a disappointing loss, but we have to bounce back and be ready to play on Sunday,” when the Beavers (10-6-1, 2-4-0) play Washington at 11:30 a.m. on Senior Day in their final home game of the season.

WSU’s Brandi Vega scored the only goal at 39:48. A shot from teammate Kiersten Dallstream deflected off the right post and she knocked home the rebound.

OSU controlled possession for a majority of the second half and had several strong chances to tie late in the game. However, Chelsea Buckland’s shot in the 83rd minute was saved by Meghan Berlingo and Sarah Lead’s header in the 89th minute went just wide.

WSU outshot the Beavers 12-6 and had a 3-2 edge in corner kicks.

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It wouldn’t be a blog without Corvallis Knights news, and we have some.

The Knights  have signed two players from Texas Tech for the 2010 season.
Sophomore third baseman Justin Berry hit .292, with four homers, nine doubles and 26 RBIs in 2009; catcher Bo Altobelli is a native of Plano, Texas, who play as a freshman in 2010.

Texas Tech is coached by former OSU assistant coach Dan Spencer.

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1. Brooks Hatch: Thursday update, OSU soccer
2. Brooks Hatch: OSU women’s soccer makes the NCAAs
3. Stanford postgame 1/10
4. Brooks Hatch: Friday soccer update
5. Stanford vs. OSU women 5:30 p.m. Friday