CORVALLIS, Ore. – The No. 13 California Golden Bears (6-3-0, 0-2-0 Pac-12) fell 6-2 on the road at Oregon State (8-3-0, 1-1-0 Pac-12) at Paul Lorenz Field in Corvallis on Sunday afternoon. A pair of hat-tricks from the Beavers forwards, senior Khiry Shelton and freshman Timmy Mueller led the Oregon State to their first Pac-12 victory in over two years. The Bears fell behind 2-0 in the first 21 minutes, but battled back to level things early in the second behind goals from sophomoreTrevor Haberkorn and freshman Paul Salcedo. The Beavers then turned the match on its head, scoring four unanswered to close the Bears out.

“We had a great response in the second half,” head coach Kevin Grimes said on Sunday evening from Corvallis. “At 2-2, we had excellent chances to go ahead. Also, our bench did a perfect job of getting us back into the game. A rough five-and-a-half minute spell from the 75th-80th minute cost us the game.”

Oregon State opened the match with a bang just 54 seconds in, as Mueller played a ball through to Shelton. The senior went in one-on-one with Cal goalkeeper Alex Mangels and buried his shot low into the far post to open the scoring.

Though Cal applied some pressure over the course of the next 20 minutes, they were unable to draw level. In the 21stminute, the Beavers doubled their advantage behind Mueller. The freshman was played in initially by Shelton and despite a quality save by Mangels, Mueller was able to knock the rebound into the back of the net for his seventh goal of the year.

The Bears best opportunity to pull one back came in the 32nd minute when senior midfielder Seth Casiple played in a dangerous ball from a corner that found the head of redshirt freshman Matt Chasman’s head. His header beat Oregon State goalkeeper Matt Bersano, but was cleared off the line by a defender. Cal threatened again just five minutes later when senior forward Omid Jalali laid a pass off to freshman midfielder Eloi Vasquez at the edge of the area. His first-time effort took a slight deflection and seemed earmarked for the bottom corner, but Bersano got a slight touch to it to push it wide for a corner.

Cal opened the second half strongly, pulling a goal back in the 54th minute of play after a scramble in the box. Haberkorn scored his first goal as a Golden Bear after a pass came in from senior midfielder Max Oldham. Haberkorn took a touch and calmly finished past a helpless Bersano.

Just six minutes later the Bears were on level terms. A fantastic ball in from sophomore defender Nick Lima found Salcedo who got a touch into the top corner to draw the Bears level at 2-2.

Unfortunately for the Bears, however, it was too much Shelton and Mueller. Shelton won a footrace on the counter and got around Mangels. The senior was able to finish coolly from a very difficult angle to reestablish the Beavers advantage at 3-2 in the 64th minute.

Shelton was at it again with a bit of individual flair in the 76th. He danced on the ball a bit before firing a shot low into the near post to make it 4-2. Just six minutes later it was 5-2 after Mueller tacked on his second. The freshman added a sixth for the Beavers, completing his hat-trick less than a minute later.

The Bears return home on Friday, Oct. 10 when they host the No. 2 UCLA Bruins at Edwards Stadium in Berkeley at 2 p.m. PT. Cal then welcomes San Diego State to the Bay Area on Sunday afternoon, also at 2 p.m. Friday’s match will also be televised live on the Pac-12 Networks. Fans are encouraged to interact with @CalMensSoccer on Twitter during the matches and can stay up to date on statistics and live updates during the games.

                                    1          2          F
No. 13 Cal                   0          2          2
Oregon State               2          4          6
 
Scoring Summary
OSU –  00:54 Shelton, Khiry (Mueller, Timmy)
OSU –  20:35  Mueller, Timmy (Shelton, Khiry)
Cal –    53:47  Haberkorn, Trevor (Oldham, Max)
Cal –    58:06  Salcedo, Paul (Lima, Nick)
OSU – 63:38  Shelton, Khiry (Doholis, Mikhail and Phillip van Berkom)
OSU – 75:29  Shelton, Khiry (Steele, Michael and Klewano, Spencer)
OSU – 80:12  Mueller, Timmy (Boldt, David)