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OREM — Former Utah Valley men's soccer player Alejandro Silva faced his former team Wednesday night as Oregon State traveled to Orem to finish out the nonconference slate for the Wolverines.
Unfortunately for Utah Valley, the revenge against a former teammate will have to wait.
The Beavers scored the game-winning goal in the 75th minute to secure a 1-0 victory over the Wolverines at Clyde Field.
In the fifth minute, the Wolverines allowed an attacking Tomas Bedouret free to fire a shot that was stopped by a diving Ben Williams, setting up a dam of his own between the Beavers and the goal.
In the last few seconds of the first half, Oregon State fired a shot down the end line that Williams jumped and punched over the bar just as time expired, ending the Beavers attack to maintain a clean sheet.
"Ben has been great," head coach Kyle Beckerman said. "He has been a big player for us, and he will be going forward."
Other than the two saves, the first half had little excitement as Utah Valley attempted two shots on target, with Oregon State putting up just one shot. While the two teams butted heads a few times in the half, it was scoreless after the first 45 minutes.
The first real goal attempt of the game came in the 59th minute by Oregon State when Sergi Solans found himself one-on-one with Williams, but he sailed the ball high and right of the post.
The game remained quiet until the 74th minute when the Wolverines defense cost the team a goal. Oregon State's Enzo Newman crossed a ball into the box, which was headed by Pere Belmonte, and finished with the left foot of Fabian Straudi in the net to take a 1-0 lead over Utah Valley.
"We had one defensive lapse and it cost us," Beckerman said. "We had much better competitive spirit and intensity, but we needed to do it for 90 minutes."
It looked to get worse for Utah Valley as the Beavers scored again, but the goal was called offside and the score remained 1-0 in Oregon State's favor.
Despite a few more attempts late in the game, the Wolverines couldn't get on the board and suffered their second loss of the season.
Utah Valley will start conference play against Seattle U next Thursday.
