CORVALLIS, Ore. – The Oregon State women's soccer team extended its unbeaten streak over perennial Northwest power, Portland to five consecutive games on Friday with a 2-1 victory over the Pilots at Paul Lorenz Field.
 
The Beavers (4-2-2) defeated the Pilots (4-2-1) for the second consecutive season for the first time in school history and improved to 3-0-2 in the rivalry since 2011, thrilling the season-high crowd of 608. It was OSU's first home win over the Pilots since 1994.
 
"Games are always close, so it's tough to say what the reason for OSU's recent advantage in a series UP dominated for many years," OSU coach Linus Rhode said. "Things have just been going our way. They played well. You just have to take the opportunities when you get them. We've definitely made strides, obviously we are competing with Portland now, and recently we've had the upper hand. "It's definitely a reflection that we are taking steps in the right direction."
 
Junior Natalie Higgins and sophomore Toni Malone scored for OSU. Shots were even at nine apiece; Malone, Higgins and sophomore Nikki Faris had two each for OSU.
 
Higgins gave the Beavers a 1-0 lead at 43:05 with the only goal of the first half, her third of the season. She blocked a clearing attempt at the top of the 18-yard box and her low shot to the left corner beat UP goalie Hannah De Haan.
 
Malone made it 2-0 at 46:36, as drilled a long shot from a difficult angle on the left side into the upper right corner for her first goal of the season and the second of her career.
 
Portland halved the deficit at 49:39 and pressured the rest of the way, but the Beavers held on. Junior keeper Bella Geist had one save.
 
"We got ahead, they had to press us and come at us," Rhode said. "They put us under some pressure, which we had to deal with and we did. That opened it up for the counter. We had some opportunities later on, but unfortunately we didn't put them away."
 
The Beavers conclude their weekend homestand, and their nonconference schedule, at 1 p.m., Sunday against the University of San Diego.
 
"I don't think we've gone a full weekend with two wins," Rhode said. "We'd like to get two, for sure. We've had a pretty tough schedule and we've played well for the majority of the minutes," Rhode added in summarizing the nonconference slate. "We've created a lot of chances, which we hadn't done for a while."
 
"It's fun to see things click in, put the other team under pressure, and have opportunities around the goal. So it's good."
 
They begin Pacific-12 Conference play at California at 3 p.m., Thursday; the game will be televised by Pac-12 Networks.
 
For more information on the Oregon State women's soccer team, follow the team on Twitter and Instagram at @BeaverWSoccer or its Facebook page at BeaverWSoccer
 
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