The Oregon soccer program, tabbed to finish last in the Pacific-10 Conference in the preseason media poll, opened the season against a ranked opponent, spent three weeks on the road and as school approaches, finally return home to close out the nonleague schedule with four games in the state of Oregon.
The Ducks host Nevada on Friday at 7 p.m. and Idaho on Sunday at 1 p.m. before a trip to Portland the following weekend. Oregon plays at Portland State on Sept. 29 and at Portland – the preseason favorite in the Division I NSCAA/adidas National Rankings – on Oct. 1 before conference play begins.
“I think that having a good preseason, we need to come out again from the beginning, like we did last year, winning a lot of games, being very positive and trying to get out with a good start because that will lead to a good Pac-10,” Oregon defender
Allison Newton said.
Oregon faces Arizona – 17th in the preseason poll – on Oct. 6 and Arizona State on Oct. 8.
Last year Oregon finished the nonleague schedule 8-1-1, with its only loss to No. 4 Portland. Oregon returned from Arizona with two losses once league play began.
“Last year it provided us with a lot of momentum, but then we kind of hit the wall in the Pac-10 because the level was so much higher than what we had been playing against,” Oregon coach Tara Erickson said.
Oregon finished with only one conference victory, a 1-0 win against Washington. The Ducks were shut out in five league games, including the final three after the Washington victory.
An emphasis in the offseason was goals scored, which the Ducks had 20 of last season – half by Nicole Garbin. Garbin, who is 10 goals away from breaking Chalise Baysa’s career record of 31 goals, said that Erickson has had the team focus on finishing, executing plays and taking more chances on goal.
“I think it is 10 that I have to reach to have the record, but it’d be nice to break it,” Garbin said. “I don’t think that’s the main thing on my mind, although my dad preaches to me everyday about it. I think the main goal of mine is to get to the NCAA Tournament and to have a winning season.”
Garbin is one of five upperclassmen on the squad, but that doesn’t worry Erickson, who sent all of the returning players on a team-bonding trip earlier this summer.
“I think that we have spread leadership throughout and have great captains in Nicole Garbin and Jessie Chatfield,” Erickson said.
Oregon has five conference home games, including the season’s final two games against preseason top-26 teams (No. 2 UCLA and No. 26 USC) and with a couple of key victories, Erickson and the Ducks are confident that the team goal – to reach the NCAA Tournament – will become a reality.
“We have a goal of making it to the tournament, that’s definitely one of our main goals,” Newton said. “I think having a winning season is also very important because we’ve been close in year’s past. Just getting those couple of big wins to just get us over the hump, get us over the problem we’ve been having of having a winning season … that’s one of our main goals.”
In order for that to happen, Oregon first has to secure a winning season, which hasn’t been accomplished in school history. However, the Ducks aren’t far away.
The Ducks landed two top-flight recruits in Rianna Mansfield and Dani Oster. Mansfield is a graduate of South Eugene High School and won the Oregon 4A Player of the Year award last season.
Oster, the reigning Washington state 4A Player of the Year, chose Oregon over Arizona, Arizona State and all other schools in the states of Oregon and Washington.
“All through high school and club I’ve always been on teams that were the underdogs, but who always end up succeeding,” Oster said. “I just wanted to be on that spoiler team. I want to be a part of something that helps bring a team up.”
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