Oregon women’s soccer (0-12-2, 0-6-0) fell 2-0 to Arizona State (9-2-4, 4-1-1) in what was one of their strongest performances of the season on Friday.
After a pair of blowout losses against USC and UCLA, the Ducks started Friday’s match hungry to bounce back. Oregon controlled possession and outshot the Sun Devils with four of those attempts on frame. One of those opportunities came at the feet of Trinity Morales in the 26th minute on a shot that missed the far post by a matter of inches.
The Sun Devils’ goalkeeper Pauline Nelles saved four shots in the first half. No matter what the Ducks sent at her, she was able to come to the rescue.
“To be quite honest, it took a player the match performance from [Nelles] in the first half to keep us out,” Oregon head coach Graeme Abel said.
The Ducks had six corners in the first half, one of their season high. Even though they had plenty of set-piece opportunities in their attacking third, they couldn’t make Arizona State pay.
The Sun Devils came into the match outscoring their opponents 19 to four in the second half. Oregon ended up regretting not finding the back of the net when they had the chance.
Arizona State controlled possession in the second half, but the Ducks’ defense stood strong. In the 82nd minute, Enasia Colon struck the ball past the Oregon defense into the bottom right of the goal.
Hannah Lapeire put the game out of reach three minutes later. What could’ve been a major step in the right direction for this Ducks program ended up being a heartbreaker.
“It’s just really frustrating for sure,” midfielder Livvy Moore said. “But we’re creating joyful moments and that’s really what it’s all about. And then we’re just playing good soccer, and it’s all starting to come through.”
The Ducks have started Pac-12 play with six losses in as many games and without a win all season. Many of the team’s issues stem from the 15 freshmen on the roster. A lack of experience has proven to be a problem against the strength of the Pac-12 conference.
“I take responsibility because I put all of them on the field. I made the decision to go and recruit a bunch of freshmen and sophomores,” Abel said. “I believe in the talent in these guys.”
Despite the incredibly rough start to the season, Abel and the team haven’t given up hope that they’ll finally find that first win.
“These guys just keep getting better and better every single week and we know what’s going to come,” Abel said. “We know the quality is there and you can see the confidence is still there.”
The schedule doesn’t get any easier, however. Next, the Ducks hit the road again, this time heading to the Bay Area. They’ll face Cal (5-3-6, 2-0-4) on Thursday at 2 pm.
“I guarantee you Cal is gonna get the game of their lives on Thursday,” Abel said. “We’re going to come out and we’re gonna go after it again because that’s the character of these kids.”
