Gaels Win! Saint Mary’s Women’s Soccer Defeats OSU Beavers 3–0. Now SMC Plays for the West Coast Conference Title on Saturday

With a potential West Coast Conference title on the line heading into the final week of the regular season, on November 5, Saint Mary's Women’s Soccer went to Corvallis and scored three first-half goals to put away the Oregon State Beavers in a dominant win. The victory gives the Gaels a shot at the WCC Title on Saturday—which would garner the team their first trophy in program history. 

To add to the drama, there were other balls in motion on this Wednesday: Portland upset Pepperdine earlier in the afternoon to open the door for the Gaels to move into the No. 1 spot in the WCC. The Gaels proved more than ready to cash in. Their 3–0 win over Oregon State later in the evening put SMC at the top of the conference standings with a record of 7–1–2, exactly one point ahead of the Waves. 

First Half: Gaels Go up by Three

It was clear that Wednesday night's match against Oregon State was going to be a crucial one for Saint Mary's. The stakes notched up further after Portland upset Pepperdine 1–0 just minutes before the Saint Mary’s–OSU kickoff, opening the door for the Gaels to jump to the top of the standings with a win. 

Did the Gaels women hear the news of the result prior to kickoff? That we don’t know. But Saint Mary’s needed just 11 minutes to get on the scoreboard, thanks to a magical strike from their leading scorer, Sydney Middaugh. Middaugh and the Gaels capitalized on a won header from an OSU goal kick and, after receiving the ball from teammate Savannah Schwarze, Middaugh fired a left-footed strike from distance that hit the crossbar and went down into the back of the net. It was her ninth goal of the season. 

35' | SMC 2-0 OSU

First career goal for Molly Silva! 

Silva get's in on the action with a top-class finish into the roof of the net! Gaels double their lead just before the half!#GaelsRise @NCAASoccer @WCCsports pic.twitter.com/6pYDn5K9WH

— Saint Mary's Women's Soccer (@SMC_WSoccer) November 6, 2025

After the Beavers' defense weathered the Gaels' storm for the next 25 minutes, Saint Mary's struck twice more within a five-minute window to go up three goals at the break. Goal number two came from junior defender Molly Silva, who has been a staple in the team's backline. Silva combined with Ashlyn Vaughn down the right side and roofed a beautiful shot for her first career goal, doubling the Gaels lead.   The nail in the coffin came just five minutes later as Sydney Middaugh pounced on a rebound after a shot on target from Savannah Schwarze, tapping in her tenth goal of the season and her second career brace. 

The Gaels ramped up the pressure over the final 15 minutes of play in the first half, finishing with 11 shots. Goalkeeper extraordinaire Kate Plachy, who has earned recognition as WCC Defensive Player of the Week five times this season, had to make one save—but she was relatively untested over the first 45 minutes as Saint Mary's had complete control of their 12th win of the season. 

Cruising to Victory

Head coach Theresa Romagnolo had the luxury of making some early subs in the second half, removing key starters in Sydney Middaugh, Savannah Schwarze, Briana Salvetti, and Ashlyn Vaughn. Oregon State outshot the Gaels 5–3 in the second half but failed to put a shot on target. The Gaels cruised to the 3–0 road victory, giving them sole possession of first place in the conference standings.  Amari Hicks, Molly Silva, Madison Casado, and Aleiyah Schexnayder all helped contribute to the team's 12th shutout of the season; they held the Beavers to just one shot on target. With her brace, Sydney Middaugh pushed her season total to ten goals, making her the program's first double-digit scorer since 2023, when current teammate Briana Salvetti scored ten goals of her own.