-By Aubrey Wieber
The Oregon Ducks soccer team came up victorious on Friday night in front of 777 fans at the new Papé Field. It was a hard-fought game riddled with fouls and physical play but the Ducks stayed resilient and got the win behind goals from Kristen Parr and Scout Libke.
Dana Connors shined in her first start in goal for the Ducks, replacing Abby Steele who was sidelined after picking up a red card in the Ducks’ last match. Connors was great on the corner kicks, and although she found herself out of position occasionally, the defensive line covered up most mistakes.
“Overall I think our defense did awesome tonight,” Connors said. “I think we played really hard, we went in hard for tackles and I don’t think we would have won this game without them going hard on tackles and everything. They helped me out and I did what I could and I tried to do my job tonight”.
Another bright moment for the Ducks came when freshman Kristen Parr scored yet another goal, her fifth in seven games. She wasted no time either, recording it within the first five minutes of the match. Parr has quickly become the hero of the team and a player that the rest of the team consistently look to in order to spark the offense.
“It seems like I do the same thing every time,” Parr said. If it’s open, I’m going to go for it”.
She also gave ample credit to the unity that the team has built so far this season, “We’ve really tried to pressure and hit hard as a team instead of going one on one.”
The unity was obvious, though not always productive. The Ducks battled a barrage of fouls, 11, throughout the match that only added stress for the unseasoned Connors. However, with her quick reflexes and the physical play of Mariah Powers and Mo Fitzgerald, they came out on top. When asked about the penalties, Coach Erickson responded, “I think you have to expect that you are always going to be put under pressure and when teams are able to take advantage of those opportunities it’s a credit to their hard work, but I think that we dealt with the balls flighted in the direct play with the numbers that were thrown at us in the second half.”
With 31:00 left in the first half, the Redhawks’ Bolibol knocked in a goal of a free kick from Busque and tied the game for Seattle at 1-1. The Ducks fought back, creating several scoring opportunities. At the twelve minute mark Libke missed on back to back shots, one off the cross bar and one just wide left. However, that did not deter her and with 9:00 left in the half she scored off an incredible corner kick.
Through most of the second half the Ducks seemed to play to hold the lead with neither team maintaining an offensive rhythm. On Sunday they have another test with the Gonzaga Bulldogs (5-4), but the apparent depth in all positions and the unexpected golden foot of Kristen Parr helps in keeping the Ducks optimistic.
