The Oregon soccer team had its back to the wall Sunday afternoon in Tempe, Ariz. The chips were down. There was no tomorrow.
Not until Annie Murphy showed up, anyway.
Murphy, the Ducks’ senior midfielder, scored her first and second goals of the season — the second in overtime — as Oregon toppled Arizona State 3-2 in the extra period. Murphy’s timely goal earned the Ducks a weekend split with the Arizona schools and helped keep Oregon’s NCAA Tournament hopes alive.
“It was a great test of character for our kids,” Oregon head coach Bill Steffen said.
The Ducks, who suffered a comeback loss at the hands of Arizona Friday night, almost saw Arizona State come back on them Sunday. Murphy scored the first goal of the match at the five-minute mark, when she took a pass from senior forward Chalise Baysa, dribbled through traffic and beat Sun Devil goalie Kristin Slater.
The teams played the next 60 minutes without a goal, before Arizona State sophomore Patrice Feulner scored her team-leading 10th goal with 25 minutes left in the second half. Oregon senior Beth Bowler made sure the lead didn’t last, as she netted her fifth goal of the season two minutes after Feulner’s goal. Arizona State knotted the game at 2-2 with only seven minutes left, on Andrea Waite’s point-blank goal.
The teams battled back and forth in overtime, but Murphy’s shot was the first to find the back of the net. Twelve minutes into the extra period, Baysa passed the ball to Murphy, who slipped around Slater and scored before the Sun Devil defense could reach her. Murphy was injured on the play, and her status for next weekend’s games is uncertain, according to Steffen.
“Annie had the best game of her career,” Steffen said.
The Ducks were denied an Arizona sweep before they even faced Arizona State Sunday. Under the lights of a rare night game in Tucson on Friday, Arizona came from behind to stun Oregon, 2-1. The Wildcats had not beaten the Ducks in four previous tries.
“Unfortunately, we came up on the short end tonight,” Steffen said Friday. “Arizona battled and that’s the strength of their game.”
Oregon had the lead for a short period in Friday’s contest. Baysa scored her team-leading seventh goal of the season in the 16th minute, on an assist from junior goalie Sarah Peters. The assist was Peters’ second of the season, and was the second ever for an Oregon keeper.
But soon after Baysa’s goal, Arizona freshman Candice Wilks put her own stamp on the game. The freshman notched her team-leading 12th point of the season with an assist on Liz Bartlett’s goal in the 29th minute. Midway through the second half, Wilks added a goal — her sixth of the season — from five yards out to give Arizona the 2-1 win.
Steffen said Oregon’s player of the game Friday was sophomore forward Ann Westermark, who tallied two shots on the evening.
“Ann played the game of her life,” Steffen said. “She sent so many balls across, but we just couldn’t put them away.”
Arizona was able to overcome a large shot differential in the first half. Oregon outshot the Wildcats 11-7 in the first half, and 16-15 overall.
The Ducks will face a tough Pac-10 test next weekend when they host No. 2 UCLA and Southern California. UCLA is undefeated this season, while USC stands fourth in the conference.