Oregon State Men's Soccer: Previewing the Beavers' Non Conference Schedule

Oregon State Men's Soccer is a few days away from their first exhibition, and a couple weeks away from the start of the regular season. We've already gone over what this year's Beaver roster looks like, but that's only half the story. We also need to know who the Beavers are playing, so today we'll be looking at the Beavers' schedule.

And boy, do they have an interesting. We're starting with Oregon State's non conference opponents, and the Beavers have not been shy about scheduling strong opponents. Four of the teams the Beavers will be facing made the NCAA Tournament in 2024, and all of them made the second round. Here's what we're looking at in 2025.

The Beavers will first take the field for a pair of exhibitions, against Portland on August 10th and against Seattle on August 15th. They're interesting opponents, but they're also both West Coast Conference teams so we'll talk more about them when we get to that portion of the Beavers schedule.

Oregon State's first game that counts comes on August 21st, when UC Santa Barbara visits Paul Lorenz Field. The Gauchos were a strong team last season, finishing second in the Big West and making the NCAA Tournament as an at large seed. They beat UCLA in the first round before falling to Stanford in the second.

The Gauchos have lost a lot of their top talent from last year's team, including All Big West First Teamers Alexis Ledoux and Mikkel Goeling, but return a lot of veteran talent. It's an interesting to test to open the season.

Things don't get easier for the Beavers after that. The Washington Huskies come to Corvallis on August 24th. The Huskies finished 4th in the Big 10 and took down Seattle in the first round of the tournament before falling to SMU in the second. While the Huskies have lost some of their top scorers, they've managed to bring back several of their starters, especially on defense.

Oregon State hits the road for their first away game on August 28th, when they'll be in South Bend to take on Notre Dame. The Beavers have some history with the Irish; most recently in 2023 when Notre Dame sent Oregon State home in the semifinals of the NCAA Tournament.

Last year's Irish team wasn't their best, finishing 10th in the ACC with a 7-5-5 overall record. Notre Dame is a traditional power with a great recruiting program, and they should be back to a tournament team pretty soon.

The Beavers stay in Indiana for a game against the Hoosiers on August 31st. Indiana led the Big 10 in the regular season with an 11-5-5 overall record. This is another team that made the NCAA Tournament, advancing to the second round before being knocked out by Denver.

The Hoosiers have lost their top goal scorer in Tommy Mihalic, last year's Big 10 Offensive Player of the Year, but that's not the only big departure. Including Mihalic the Hoosiers had six players on the Big 10's first and second teams, and they're all gone. All Conference freshmen Charlie Heuer and Josh Maher are both back, and are a strong pair to build around, but it might take some time for Indiana to gel.

Oregon State returns to Corvallis on September 4th to face Cal State Fullerton. The Titans were a middle of the road Big West team last season, but had some promising freshmen Julian Borja and Jose de la Torre who could help the team take a step forward in 2025.

Then it's back on the road to face San Diego State. The Aztecs looked like the class of the WAC in the regular season, but a loss in the conference tournament finals kept the out of the NCAA tournament. Senior forward Terence Okoeguale will be trying to get the team past that hump this season.

One final test awaits the Beavers before the start of their conference schedule, a September 24th trip to Stanford to take on the Cardinal. Stanford finished in the middle of the ACC pack last season, but made the NCAA field, beating UC Santa Barbara in the first round before falling to the tournament's to seed, Ohio State. Much of their best talent is back, and they should be better this season.

Oregon State has one last non-conference game on the schedule, filling in a gap in the schedule with a November 5th match against UT Rio Grande Valley. Last year's Vaqueros finished the year eighth in the WAC, with a 4-7-5 overall record.

It's an extremely challenging schedule. Washington, Indiana and Stanford immediately stand out as marquee games, with Notre Dame, San Diego State and UC Santa Barbara also posing interesting challenges. It's easy to see the team taking some lumps and limping into the conference schedule, but with how consistent the Beavers have been I don't think that's super likely. Oregon State should pick up some big wins before the WCC schedule gets started.

We'll be back tomorrow to take a look at the West Coast Conference. Can the Beavers compete for a conference championship this season?