CORVALLIS, Ore. – The San Diego State women’s soccer team (7-3-2, 1-1-1 Pac-12) rallied late, scoring twice in the final eight minutes to secure a draw at Oregon State (1-9-3, 0-1-1 Pac-12) on Thursday night.
The Aztecs threatened early but Kenny Moore’s shot two and a half minutes into the match was saved by Libby Brooker. Oregon State pulled ahead late in the fourth minute on a goal by Grace Wetzel with assists by Sophia Zboyan and Lea Gentry. SDSU had a promising possession in the 16th minute, but the first three shots were blocked, and Victoria Miller’s shot afterwards was off. In the 28th minute, KK Chowana-Bandhu rocketed a shot towards the net, but Brooker made the stop. The Beavers were issued two yellow cards in the opening half, one to London Tsuma in the 35th minute and the other to Alexandra Anger in the 38th. Oregon State doubled its lead in the 39th minute when Taylor Ayres headed in a free kick that Ava Burdeyny took from midfield.
Oregon State opened the second half with another yellow card, this one given to Morgan Long. At 52:33, the Aztecs briefly had a goal when a Moore free kick deflected off the head of Charlie Gerson and into the net, but the referees signaled for offsides. SDSU’s challenge of the call was unsuccessful. Kailey Carlen picked up her first save of the night in the 56th minute on a shot by Wetzel. The Aztecs threatened again in the 60th minute. However, Brooker knocked the ball away from Naima Castro. Alexis Leath rebounded it and fired a shot of her own, but it was headed over the goal by Reese Thurston.
One second past the 70-minute mark, Thurston was booked with a yellow card, the fourth for Oregon State. Five minutes afterwards, Wetzel picked up a yellow card of her own. In the 78th minute, Brooker made a diving stop on a Mia Hambro Svendsen shot from point blank range. Brooker saved another shot by Hambro Svendsen a minute later, this one coming off a corner kick. Katie Senn kept up the pressure on Brooker with a shot on target in the 81st minute. Carlen made another save of her own, this one on a shot by Amber Ogbolu at the end of the 82nd minute.
In the 83rd minute, Leath dribbled up field and into the box and passed across to Kana Smith, who flicked it past Brooker for her first career goal to get the Aztecs on the board. The Beavers’ Emily Brandt was given a yellow card in the 87th and Lea Gentry received one in the 90th. In the 88th minute, Leath passed to Senn, whose first shot was blocked but she kicked the ricochet out of midair and past the keeper to tie the match at two. With 43 seconds remaining in the match, Smith had an open shot and nearly put the Aztecs ahead, but it missed to the right and the match finished in a draw.
The Aztecs finished the match with more shots (19-7), shots on goal (9-4), corner kicks (15-4) and time of possession (62%-38%). The Beavers had more saves (7-2) and fouls (23-8).
THE NOTE
San Diego State tallied at least ten corner kicks for the third consecutive match, a feat that the team accomplished for the first time since at least 2009.
UP NEXT
The Aztecs will be back on the SDSU Sports Deck this weekend for a match against Colorado State at noon on Sunday, October 11. All home matches on the SDSU Sports Deck have free admission, and all of the Aztecs’ Pac-12 matches are streamed on the Pac-12 YouTube channel.