The Barometer Online

Issue date: 10/3/06 Section: Sports

Media Credit: Andrew Burton Najma Homidi was the first to put OSU on the scoreboard Saturday against Portland State, netting a goal in the waning minutes of regulation. The Beavers went on to win 2-1 in overtime.

Jodie Taylor is used to looking up in the stands and seeing familiar faces around the crowd.

On Sunday, Taylor saw two particular faces that stood out. Both Taylor's mom and dad made the trip from Merseyside, England to Corvallis to watch their daughter play for the Oregon State women's soccer team against Portland State. Taylor proved to be a very gracious host as she not only helped the Beavers win, but she notched the game-winning goal.

"This is the first time they came out to visit," Taylor said. "I haven't seen them since July when I saw them for two days. The last time I spent some real quality time with them was Christmas, so it's been a while."

For most of the game, it appeared that everyone associated with the Beavers (7-2-2) was going home with a disappointed feeling. The Vikings (0-10-1) played nothing like their record indicated. The sluggish offense produced few scoring opportunities but capitalized on a Beaver handball, and PSU took a 1-0 lead in the 54th minute. The goal not only showed that the Vikings weren't going away quietly, but that they were playing for the win.

"It was real frustrating at the beginning," Taylor said. "I think we started out well and then we took our foot off the gas a bit. We didn't give them enough respect and we weren't good enough. It was a good talk from the coaches at halftime and they put us in our place."

The Beavers spent much of the second half pushing the tempo, trying to score any way possible. OSU head coach Steve Fennah played with his frontline a bit, reinserting Jessica Velazquez with less than 19 minutes to play and Najma Homidi with less than eight to play. Velazquez, teaming with Taylor, kept Vikings goalie Rachel Jarvis on her toes as they constantly looked for any open scoring opportunity.

The Viking's offside trap kept many of the scoring opportunities to a minimum as the Beavers were whistled for five offsides and saw the Viking defense clear many through balls.

Continued...

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