Oregon State Men's Soccer: Taking a Look at 2025's Defenders and Goalkeepers

We're back to take another look at this year's Oregon State Men's Soccer team. Today we'll finish up our look at the roster by focusing on the defenders and goalkeepers. Defense looks like it should be a strength for the Beavers this season, with a lot of familiar faces returning in 2025.

Andrew De Gannes headlines the returning defenders. De Gannes was a full time starter for Oregon State in 2024, picking up three assists, and brings a lot of stability tot he core of the defense. Also returning is Pol Morlans, who started in nine games last season, scoring a goal and two assists along the way. Morlans should have a larger role this season.

Joseph Ogwang is another defender in line for a larger role. Ogwang started in 7 games in 2024, and earned West Coast Conference All Freshman Team honors. Jacob Zapien also picked up a handful of starts last season, including an appearance in the Beavers' NCAA Tournament match against Gardner-Webb.

One big question mark for the defense is how healthy Fran Cortijo is going to be. Cortijo showed a lot of promise in his first two years as a Beaver, picking up 22 starts, two goals and 11 assists in 2022 and 2023, but injuries limited his appearances last year to five games. If he's healthy this year he's another veteran asset for the defense.

Oriol Vidal and Mark Wieder also picked up some play time last season, with Vidal in particular starting in two games. They should see a bit more action in 2025, but the defense is packed with returning players with starting experience. so it's going to be a fight to get on the field.

That goes double for the team's freshmen. Oregon State had two redshirts last season, Sava Catlett and Massimo Meneses, and have two true freshmen on this year's roster, Fernando Hernandez and Marshall Warner. They'll have to battle if they want to make an impact this season.

Goalkeeper is a similar situation. While Gandhi Cruz, who started in 12 games, has graduated, John Nicholson picked up the other six starts and will be back. He had a 1.17 GAA last year, and should be able to step up in more starts.

There are a few other options on the roster if needed. Michael Macias has been on the roster for a couple seasons now but hasn't accrued any game time yet. Matteo Bucosse is graduate transfer with experience in the Italian league system and could also compete for a few starts.

With this much continuity in a group that was already impressive last season, defense should be a strength in 2025.

That's it for today. Tomorrow we'll take a look at Oregon State's 2025 schedule, starting with the non conference opponents.