Top Ranked OSU Men's Soccer Opens NCAA By Blanking St. John's

PORTLAND, OR — The Oregon State Beavers Men's Soccer team is ranked number one in the country. They won the Pac-12 championship. Both of those are firsts in the program's history.

If those accomplishments put any pressure on the team as they played their first game in the tournament, they didn't show it.

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Because of their number one seed, the Beavers got to skip the first round and start with a second-round match at home against St. John's out of New York.

Oregon State showed that they are serious and blanked St. John's, 2-0.

That puts the Beavers into the third round, another first in program history.

Coach Terry Boss said that the team played well but could have done better.

"We played a good first half, and in the second half St. John's stepped up their pressure," Boss said. "I think there's times we could have been better with it, but it's something we'll build on. "I was quite pleased with the first two-thirds of the field, I think we need to continue to execute in the final third.

"These guys had one tournament game to get under their belt and this was an important result for us to come away with a good performance. Of course, we're always going to want more."

Oregon State saw goals from sophomore Mouhameth Thiam and junior Sofiane Djeffal. The defense allowed six shots during the game, none of which were on goal.

The Beavers next take the pitch on the Sunday after Thanksgiving. Once again, they will play at home, taking on New Hampshire, seeded 16th.