With a win or draw on Saturday, the Beavers will capture a conference title.
A conference title is on the line this Saturday for Oregon State men’s soccer.
With a win or draw against San Diego, the Beavers (10-3-2, 6-0-2 WCC) will capture their first West Coast Conference championship as temporary members during the Pac-12’s restructuring.
The Toreros (12-2-3, 6-1-1 WCC) are the three-times defending WCC champs, coming in as winners of five consecutive matches.
“I think they’re mostly just excited at the opportunity that they’ve earned for themselves,” OSU head coach Jarred Brookins said of his team. “It’s been a really fun year, and I think what I’ve been so impressed with with this group is how they’ve battled through adversity. We’ve won some games in ways that we’ve struggled to win them in the past.”
OSU has found different ways to win in its past four matches, ranging from a 6-0 thrashing of Santa Clara to a 2-1 win over Pacific despite giving up a late equalizer.
The Beavers are led by star senior midfielder Arnau Farnos, who has 14 goals and seven assists this season. Farnos is the straw that stirs the drink on the attack for OSU, earning four player of the week honors this year in the WCC.
“He’s a special player,” Brookins said. “He comes from such an incredible playing background in his youth career and is so talented as an attacking player. Usually those guys are really hard to manage, the really talented attacking players, and he is the opposite of that. He works so hard in training, he demands a lot of his teammates, and he’s been an important player here in ’23 and in ’24. So, it’s great to see him getting the recognition I think that he deserves.”
The Beavers had a record home crowd attend their matchup with University of Portland earlier this season. Many thought it would be the Pilots and Toreros jockeying for the top conference spot, but Portland slipped up with a 1-0 loss at Santa Clara two games after drawing OSU, 1-1.
San Diego needs a road win to nab its fourth consecutive WCC title. But OSU is leaning on its experience to set itself up for what it hopes is a deep run in the NCAA tournament.
“This is one of our oldest rosters that we’ve had and we’ve had some really experienced ones over the years,” Brookins said. “I think we have a healthy mix of guys that have been here, guys that have won things, guys that have been to a Final Four, and also we added some older players that brought in some great experience that haven’t done that here but are really hungry for it.
“I think that the team mentality right now is in a really good place, and a lot of that has to do with just how mature and experienced we are.”
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