The opening weekend of the 2022 season for Oregon State women’s soccer didn’t start according to plan. More than 80 minutes of clock had melted away, and despite being outshot and outplayed, it appeared the day all but belonged to the Eagles from Eastern Washington as Madison Kem stepped to the penalty spot to throw the knockout punch for the visitors. 

That’s when Oregon State’s junior goalkeeper Hailey Coll said, ‘Nah.’ 

“That PK save made by Hailey Coll was huge. That was huge,” Beavers head coach Lauren Sinacola said. “They could have ended the game with that and she kept us alive and sent our momentum forward.”

Coll dove to her right and got both hands on Kem’s effort to keep the ball out of the net and injected life into the Beavers and the 400+ in attendance at Paul Lorenz Field. Sinacola made three substitutions in the ensuing minute and the Oregon State attack dialed up the pressure.

After already pouring 20 shots on the Eastern Washington net, the Beavs finally found the equalizer in the 88th minute. 

Junior forward Amber Jackson got the ball in an ocean of space and charged up the middle of the field. Memphis grad transfer Caroline Duncan found a weak spot in the EWU defense and made a brilliant run towards the left side of the box. Jackson then feathered a perfectly weighted ball into the area on a silver platter to be one-timed into the net by Duncan’s left foot. 

Phew. Crisis averted. 

“I was extremely proud of how we fought back to get that tie,” Sinacola said. “For us to battle all the way until a minute and half left to tie it, to slowly change our formation a couple of times to get to the point of being able to do that, I’m really proud of the team for staying bought in and fighting for that tie.”

A 1-1 draw at home hardly qualifies as a dream start, especially for a team with NCAA Tournament ambition, but no team gets through a season without fighting adversity. Might as well start facing it head-on in the season opener. 

“It was a really good learning experience for our group and I think it set in more belief than doubt, which I liked,” Sinacola said. A belief that was on full display a couple days later as the Beavs stormed out of the gates in match day No. 2 against Wyoming. 

“I think our team responded really well to a frustrating outcome against Eastern Washington and I think they used that to fuel their hunger and their drive to start out strong against Wyoming,” Sinacola said. “We came out of the gate hot, scored a couple early goals. In the second half scoring another very early goal, one of the earliest goals I’ve been a part of, which was cool. And then putting them away with that fourth one. I’m really happy about it.” 

After outshooting the Eagles 23-9 in the 1-1 draw, Oregon State outshot Wyoming 21-7 and found the back of the net four times.

Senior midfielder Ava Benedetti got the Beavs on the score sheet early with her fourth minute tally. Jackson picked up her second assist in as many games, setting up 2021’s leading scorer McKenna Martinez for her first of the season in the 17th and OSU took a 2-1 lead into the half.

“It was a great way to start and that was one thing we really wanted to focus on against Wyoming. We have to throw the first punch and we have to stay on top of them,” Sinacola said. “I think we did that in the first half and then we let off a little bit and let them back into the fight more than we should have. At halftime it was kinda, ‘we gotta throw the first one again and we can’t let them back into it.’” 

Martinez came out swinging and made it a two-goal afternoon just 11 seconds in the second half with a right-footed blast from outside of the box to the lower-left hand corner of goal on an assist from Maddie Tetz. 

The honors for throwing the day’s final haymaker were reserved for Jackson in the 77th minute. The ball found  the right foot of sophomore midfielder Sawyer Service at midfield on the left flank. I don’t know what she did to the ball after that, but I know the beautiful, looping pass she uncorked isn’t anywhere near the realm of possibility in any version of FIFA with every single cheat code activated. 

“That final ball into Amber for that fourth goal, that backspin was perfect,” Sinacola said. “I remember when it left her foot, while the ball was in the air I was like, ‘Sawyer! The backspin!’”

That deliciously spun masterpiece of a ball eventually fell to the feet of Jackson, who took one quick touch before depositing into the back of the net to seal the 4-1 Beaver victory. 

“I thought we were sharper against Wyoming. I thought our finishers were much more efficient. It was definitely a better performance in front of the net,” Sinacola said. “I knew that was something we needed to focus on and I thought the girls did really well.”

Sinacola’s squad has another couple tough challenges in front of them with two matches in California on the team’s first road trip of the regular season. First they’ll face Fresno State in a scorcher in the Valley on Thursday night, followed by a date with Pacific in Stockton on Sunday.