For the first time in the history of University club sports, the men’s club soccer team will host the National Intramural-Recreational Sports Association Northwest Regional Tournament.
After years of the tournament being played in Utah, Trevor McGowen, a senior on the team and tournament director, is happy to be able to play in front of the home fans.
“Having the opportunity to host regionals is pretty special. It gives us a chance to show the school what we are about,” he said. “Most people haven’t seen us play before, either because of lack of publicity or because it’s soccer, but we hope to get a good turnout.”
The regionals take place today and Saturday. It will be held on the two turf fields adjacent to the Student Recreation Center, a prime location for foot traffic on campus. There will be bleacher seating to help out with the larger crowds, and in-game promotions to draw fans.
The tournament was originally scheduled with nine teams competing, but Utah Valley State and Washington State dropped out late Wednesday. Utah Valley State told tournament officials that its team was banged up from last weekend’s matches, and the team needed the time to recover before the open bracket at nationals starts. Utah Valley was the highest ranked team coming in and the Ducks had looked forward to a showdown. Washington State cited the timing of the tournament for not coming.
“(The Cougars) said that maybe if the tournament was over the weekend they could’ve played. They didn’t want their kids to miss school,” McGowen said. “But they’ve known for two months now when the time was. It’s just frustrating to have to deal with this. Trying to find a way for a seven team tournament to work will be tough, and I’m working with the regional and national coordinators to figure it out.”
The last-minute scramble, although unexpected, will not spoil anything. Play will start at 9 a.m. today and will continue throughout the day. Picking up again on Saturday morning, there will be a short break midday, then the title match will start at 7:30 p.m.
In an unexpected twist, the dropouts effectively make this a two-state regional between Oregon and Utah. Portland State, Oregon State, Central Oregon Community College and the Ducks will match the rainy part of the country against the Beehive State and its competitors from the University of Utah, Weber State and Salt Lake Community College.
The Ducks are excited for what McGowen calls the “Battle of the States.” For many of the members on the team, this is their last chance to win a national title. After going undefeated and winning the championship in 2005-2006, the men continued to run through opponents, posting a 22-1 record last year on their way to a ninth-place finish at nationals.
“It’s our last hurrah,” McGowen says. “The only way we want to go is winners. Our record over the past two years is a testament to the hard work everyone puts in on and off the field, and that one loss still haunts us. We really use it as motivation for regionals and nationals.”
The confidence and class the team exhibits will surely be on display throughout the weekend, and opponents who draw the Ducks in group play should be wary. The team is full of talent, with fourteen returners from the national team last year and a handful of freshmen, they are very deep and their style of play is fast.
“We have the deepest team in the tournament,” McGowen said. “We are going to get guys in and out and try and run over people.”