Oregon State Women's Soccer looks to build on disappointing season (Click Link to View Slideshow)

It was a dissapointing, yet hard fought season for the Oregon State women's soccer squad, who finished up their season on Sunday with a loss to the USC Women of Troy, dropping their record to 6-11-2 (1-7-1 Pac-10) and a last place finish in the Pac-10 conference. "The season for us has been overall a positive season" Beavers head coach Linus Rhode said. "We have been getting better throughout the whole season. So for me it's good when you think about what we will have moving forward. Players coming and in and returners coming back it's a good solid stepping stone for us to move forward." Offensively the Beavers were led by juniors Najma Homidi and Melissa Peck, who had nine and eight points, respectively. Homidi also led the team in goals and shots on goal, making her the go-to player throughout the season. While there were not many bright spots on the team this season, one thing to point out is that there were six starting freshman on the team, something that is not seen that often. One player of emphasis that will be returning next year is goalkeeper Colleen Boyd, who was the vocal leader for the Beavers for a majority of the season and started fifteen games in goal. She finished the season with a 1.16 goal against average and a 78% save percentage. With every player returning besides senior midfielder Julie Arredondo, the Beavers will have alot to work with beginning this offseason. "It works in our favor because it means that our team is not going to change much, so we are going to come in with the same team and hopefully have some good freshman to have on the bench that we can bring in," said midfielder Rachael Axon. "Teams are going to fear that, that we haven't changed much and that we will be able to go out and compete just as much as we did this year." The junior midfielder was tied for third on the team in points with five along with fellow midfielders Jessica Velasquez and Courtney Wetzel, whose late game heroics forced overtime against no. 2 ranked UCLA this last weekend. Unfortunately the Beavers lost 2-1 in a game where there were numerous opportunities that could have won the match for them, but they were not capitalized upon. Thus was the story of the Oregon State women's soccer season. Although their record may not present it, the Beavers were able to compete with some of the better teams in the nation this season, as proven during the UCLA match, and the one goal loss to defending national champion USC this last weekend. During their trip to Washington they were able to use grit and determination to defeat the no. 22 ranked Washington State Cougars in Corvallis on the back of Peck's one goal and two assists. In the offseason, however, there are numerous things the Beavers will need to work on, including becoming more physical. As it was proven in the USC and UCLA matches, teams need to be physical in order to compete in this conference. Oregon State was pushed around all match by both squads, and with the Bruins and Women of Troy being two of the better teams in the nation, it is something that the Beavers will need to work on if it is their goal to work towards becoming an upper echelon squad. "In the offseason we can definitely work on the final third play and on top of that our physicality," Rhode said. "When you come up against teams like USC they are not only good but very physical, so just rising to that challenge. Those are going to be the main areas of concentration this offseason." While alot of hard work will go into the offseason for the Beavers, everything goes back to the youth of the squad. As there will be 12 combined freshman and sophomores returning the future looks to be bright for the squad as they look to build on a disappointing season. "I think it has been a good season, a very good season considering that we are a very young squad." Axon said. "We have six freshman that are starting, which is not normal for most freshman, but it is something we can build on."