It was another weekend marked by frustration and missed opportunities for the Oregon women’s soccer team, as it dropped both games over the weekend. The Ducks (7-7-2, 0-4-1 Pacific-10 Conference) lost 2-1 in double overtime to Washington State on Friday and by the same score Sunday against Washington.
The Ducks played great against the 22nd-ranked Cougars, limiting them to just four shots throughout the 102 minutes it took to decide the match. But the Cougars took advantage of their few chances and ultimately stole the game in the second extra period, a microcosm of the Ducks’ season. The Ducks showed yet again that they can play with ranked teams but still have nothing to show for it. They remain winless in Pac-10 play and are 0-6 against ranked opponents.
Still, head coach Tara Erickson was pleased with her team’s fight.
“We out-shot them, we out-played them and we out-hustled them. My heart breaks for this team tonight,” Erickson said.
The match statistics would indicate that the Ducks outplayed WSU. They out-shot the Cougars 17-4 but had numerous shots drift just outside the frame. They also controlled much of the tempo and had Washington State on its heels much of the game. However, the Cougars got out to a 1-0 lead and held it until the 87th minute when junior Teresa Bowns found Kirstie Kuhns open in the box. The sophomore midfielder got her head on it and put it past the Washington State keeper for her second goal of the year.
Carly Dobratz scored both goals for the Cougars. The first was a shot that ricocheted off an Oregon defender that left freshman keeper Cody Miles out-of-reach of the ball. Dobratz scored the winner just a couple minutes into the second overtime session with a sharp, one-touch shot past Miles.
“The amount of effort they gave was great and it was crushing to lose like that in overtime,” Erickson said. “We played so well tonight.”
The Ducks had a difficult time after getting off to a slow start against Washington on Sunday afternoon. The Ducks fell behind just 10 minutes into the game on a goal by Kellye Joswick, who headed a free kick from teammate Jenna Robison past Miles to put the Huskies up 1-0. That was the score until the 72nd minute, when a poorly-cleared ball from in front of the Washington net came right to midfielder Jessica Goodell, who launched a shot that just dipped under the crossbar for her fifth goal of the year. Less than ten minutes later, Washington put the decisive goal in off another set piece. Robinson took the free kick and finessed it by all of the Oregon players into the net. The Huskies out-shot the Ducks 16-7 and ultimately made better use of their opportunities.
It was just the second conference win for the Huskies this year, as they jumped into a logjam for second place in the conference standings. Oregon and Oregon State are the only two winless teams in the Pac-10, and have only tied each other. The Ducks are now winless in their last six games and will attempt to break the losing skid next week on the final road trip of the season. They play at Arizona State and Arizona before hosting USC and UCLA in the final weekend of the regular season.
[email protected]