CORVALLIS, Ore. – Freshman Mike Reckmeyer scored his first career goal and Emery Welshman notched his second assist of the season, but Oregon State lost a hotly contested game against CSU Bakersfield, 2-1, on Sunday afternoon in the final match of the Hensor/Zaher Nike Classic at Paul Lorenz Field.

The result, OSU’s final non-conference tilt of the season, drops the Beavers’ record to 2-5-1.

“I thought for a lot of the game, especially in the first half, we were taking some pretty good initiative and got up on them early,” Oregon State head coach Steve Simmons said.  “When it’s all said and done, I think we gifted them a couple of goals … but that’s how tight it is.”

Reckmeyer and Welshman hooked up midway through the opening half to get Oregon State on the board first.  The freshman checked in as a substitute for Daniel Van Vleet at the 27:58 mark and promptly positioned himself in the box, finding space amongst a host of CSUB defenders.  Welshman fought off three Bakersfield players to gain some separation on the left side and feed a precise pass to Reckmeyer, who coolly put his first touch of the game past the Roadrunners’ keeper at 28:27 and give the Beavers the early lead.

“I’ve had some pretty close chances the last few games,” Reckmeyer said of his first career goal.  “I knew any game it was coming.”

“Mike has been showing flashes of running and players and going forward,” Simmons said of his freshman forward.  “I’d like to take full credit for that sub, but at the end of the day he’s given me confidence to put him in games like that and be dangerous so I was happy for him that it paid off.”

Oregon State had a couple of other close opportunities to grow its score, but the team’s second goal remained elusive.  In the 47th minute, Alex Penny was brought down by a Bakersfield player in the box, awarding the Beavers a penalty kick.  Freshman Will Seymore fooled the keeper into diving the wrong direction, but his strike went barely wide left of the post.

In the 53rd minute, Welshman worked himself free in the left corner and fired a shot with his right foot just under the crossbar that was punched high by the keeper at the last possible second.

Bakersfield tied the game, 1-1, in the 34th minute.  Ernesto Hinojosa took a free kick for the Roadrunners just outside the box, but his shot was guided away by Oregon State goalkeeper Steve Spangler.  CSUB’s Chris Widdy found himself right in front of the net and put home the rebound to knot things up at 1-1.

In the second half, Hinojosa got in the scoring column himself when the ball squirted out from the scrum in front of Oregon State’s goal and the junior found himself some space to get off a clean shot past the Beavers’ keeper.

The game was a physical affair, with a combined 33 fouls, four yellow cards and one red.

“The thing that needs to happen is this team has got to not ever get used to losing a match,” Simmons commented.  “I’d rather win ugly than pretty if you had to do that.  We have to make sure that mentality stays the same.  As bitter as it is, we’ve got some pretty favorable momentum.”

Oregon State opens Pac-12 play next Friday, Sept. 30, when it hosts Washington at Paul Lorenz Field at 7 p.m.

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