The Oregon women’s soccer team will end its season with a bang this weekend as it hosts No. 9 USC on Friday night and No. 3 UCLA on Saturday. The Ducks (9-7-2, 2-4-1 Pacific-10 Conference) are coming off their first two conference wins and will try to shock the two national powers from Southern California as they send their seniors off in what will be their final career games as Ducks.
USC comes into Friday night’s game having lost three of its last four games, the latest being a home loss to No. 6 Stanford. The Trojans (13-4-1, 3-3-1 Pac-10) have outscored their opponents 46-16 and lead the Pac-10 in shots this season with 381 – and they’re the defending NCAA champions. USC also features senior forward Amy Rodriguez, a member of the gold medal-winning U.S. Olympic team that competed in Beijing. She is tied with teammate Alyssa Davila for the lead in goals this year with seven. Oregon is just 1-11-0 all-time against USC.
UCLA (16-0-2, 7-0-0) is the top squad in the conference and remains one game ahead of Stanford for the Pac-10 lead. They too reached the Final Four a year ago and are looking to make a repeat run. They can secure the conference title with a sweep of the Oregon schools this weekend.
The Bruins are led by senior goalie Ashley Thompson, who also leads the NCAA in goals against percentage and save percentage. She has allowed only three goals this year, while the offense in front of her has scored 43 goals for the Bruins. UCLA is 9-2-0 all-time against the Ducks and has not lost since 2006.
This weekend should be very interesting, as the two visiting teams are battling for seeding in the NCAA Tournament as the Ducks try to defend their home turf while riding the suddenly positive momentum they have. There are seven seniors on the roster who are playing for the last time and would certainly like to leave with another win or two.
The Ducks’ Jen Stoltenberg was named Pac-10 Player of the Week last week for her two goals that gave the Ducks the pair of 1-0 wins over the Arizona schools. Her 25 points tie her with Nicole Garbin for most in a season.
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