Oregon State’s Natalie Higgins said she “just wanted to make an impact” near the end of the first overtime in the Beavers’ game against San Francisco on Sunday afternoon.

 

Mission accomplished, with one perfect swing of her right leg.

 

Higgins drilled a 25-yard laser of a golden goal into the upper right corner at 99:29, giving the streaking Beavers (3-0-0) a 2-1 victory over the Dons (2-1-1) at Lorenz Field, completing a perfect weekend for the both of OSU’s soccer programs.

 

The decisive sequence unfolded against the run of play, and less than two minutes after USF’s Jessica Nakae knocked a potential game-winning shot off the right upright.

 

Higgins gained possession in the offensive left third of the field, jumped to evade a tackle, dribbled once to her right and then hammered a rocket home over the outstretched arm of a diving USF goalie Madalyn Schiffel.

 

“I knew there was less than a minute left, and I just wanted to make an impact,” Higgins said. “So I said, ‘I’m just going to shoot this,’ and it turned out pretty good.

 

“I hopped over [the defender], took a touch with my right foot, and kicked it upper ‘V.’ Nothing was going through my head and when it went in, it was just pure shock and joy.”

 

OSU coach Linus Rhode said he has encouraged Higgins, a sophomore from San Clemente, Calif., to be more aggressive offensively and to shoot more often.

 

“She has a great shot,” he said. “I’m glad she had the confidence to hit it from there and obviously it was a great finish. The keeper almost got a hand to it but it was as close to the upper ‘V’ as you can get.”

 

USF won at Oregon on Friday night and appeared destined to escape with nothing worse than a tie as Sunday’s game progressed. After being outshot 8-2 in the first half, the Dons turned the tables and outshot OSU 17-7 in the second half and overtime and came within inches of the win when Nakae’s shot bounced off the woodwork.

 

“We haven’t had a lot of luck recently, so it was nice,” Rhode said, laughing. “It was a tough game. In the first half we were strong; in the second they were stronger, they really put us under a lot of pressure.

 

“They were very direct. We hadn’t seen anything like that, and had a tough time adjusting. But we weathered the storm and got into the game better once we got into overtime. We had time to regroup, and obviously it was a great finish by Natalie.”

 

OSU took a 1-0 lead at 3:59 when Mariah Roggow one-timed a pass from Higgins home for her second goal of the weekend. USF drew even at 77:58 on a goal by Sonja Giraud.

 

Their most recent three-game winning streak was Oct. 13-25, 2013, when they topped Arizona State, Washington State and Cal in successive Pacific-12 Conference games.

 

The Beavers shoot for their fourth straight victory at 4:30 p.m. Friday against the University of Missouri in Columbia, Mo. They have not started a season 4-0 since 2012, when they defeated UAB, Portland, Portland State and Cal State-Fullerton in succession.

 

“There are a lot of things to work on because it’s early in the season and we’re pretty young,” Rhode said. “We have to figure out how to make adjustments earlier, so that will be a big thing.

 

“We are going to Missouri and Kansas,” as OSU concludes next weekend against Kansas at 5 p.m. Sunday. “Weather will be a concern.

 

“All the games have been challenging in their own ways. But we have definitely taken steps forward, step-by-step.”