EUGENE, Ore. – Chelsea Buckland scored twice, as the 23rd-ranked Oregon State women’s soccer team took down in state rival Oregon, 3-2, Friday night in Eugene, in its Pacific-10 Conference opener in front of a crowd of 1,280.

“We played well in the first half but came out a little slow to start the second,” Oregon State women’s soccer head coach Linus Rhode said following the Civil War victory. “We showed a lot of composure after falling behind but were able to fight back and turn it around.”

The Beavers (9-1-1 overall, 1-0-0 Pac-10) took the lead in the 36th minute when Jenna Richardson connected with Chelsea Buckland who deposited the ball in the back of the net from just inside the top of the 18-yard box. It was Buckland’s fifth goal and Richardson’s fourth assist of the season.

The Beavers had the 1-0 advantage entering the second half but the Ducks (4-6-2, 0-1-0) tied the match 33 seconds into the second half when Jen Stoltenberg received the ball from Kelsey Hones and drove it past Oregon State keeper Colleen Boyd to tie the game. Oregon added another goal in the 53rd minute off the foot of Mercedes Walters to take the 2-1 lead.

Oregon State found the equalizing goal in the 75th minute when Melinda Ingalls passed to Richardson who fed it on to Ashley Seal who took the shot from 18-yards out on the left side past the Oregon keeper Lindsay Parlee. It is Seals’ first goal of the season.

Buckland found the net again in the 86th minute to give the Beavers the 3-2 lead. The ball ricocheted off the left post and then Buckland headed the ball in for the winning goal.  Ashley Folsom was credited with an assist on the play. Buckland now has a team leading six goals and 13 points on the season.

The game was hard fought and fairly even statistically, with the Beavers only outshooting the Ducks by one shot, 10-to-9. Both teams had five shots on goal.

“It’s very important to get the first Pac-10 win under our belt, especially in a rivalry game like this,” Rhode said. “This rivalry is always very fierce and it is always difficult to play in Eugene, so it’s good to get this first conference win.”

The Beavers are back out on the pitch next Friday, when they play host to USC at Paul Lorenz Field starting at 7 p.m. PT.