The Oregon women’s soccer team kicks off its Pacific-10 Conference schedule with two tough matches this weekend.
The Ducks (7-4 overall) play USC at 3 p.m. today in Los Angeles, Calif., at McAlister Field. They’ll head northwest of the Trojans’ campus for a noon match against UCLA on Sunday.
In the final weekend of the 2006 season, the Ducks beat No. 3 UCLA 2-1 in double-overtime, and then defeated USC 3-1.
Coach Tara Erickson said nobody expected Oregon to win then – so now, they don’t mind playing the underdog role.
“Most people would have said ‘Not a chance’ and I thought we could,” Erickson said. “And our team thought we could.”
The Trojans, ranked No. 13 in the nation, are 8-1-1 this season. They’re riding a six-game streak without a loss. The squad upset then-No. 2 Portland on Sept. 30.
The Women of Troy have built their record in front of goalkeeper Kristin Olsen, who owns Pac-10 highs in shutouts (5) and goals-against average (0.49). Olsen is also No. 2 in the conference with a .839 save percentage.
Those statistics have a silver lining though, Erickson said.
“I think they had a miraculous goals-against average last year and we managed to get three in on them then. … I like our chances,” Erickson said.
Freshman Alyssa Davila has the second most game-winning goals in the Pac-10 with three; Megan Ohai, also a freshman, ranks No. 4 in goals with 5.
UCLA stands as the No. 1 team in the country, and the Bruins’ 7-1-2 record includes wins against strong opponents.
On Sunday, UCLA defeated No. 5 Santa Clara 4-1. The Bruins also beat Portland 2-1 in overtime on Sept. 28.
For Oregon, Allison Newton, a junior midfielder, leads the team in scoring with five goals. Sophomore midfielder Teresa Bowns and sophomore defender/midfielder Danielle Sweeney have both recorded four goals.
Junior midfielder Jen Cameron did not play against Gonzaga last Sunday after suffering a concussion during Oregon’s 4-0 loss to Portland two nights earlier. She’ll sit out this weekend, Erickson said.
Senior Dylann Tharp, a bastion in Oregon’s defense, re-aggravated her left ankle against the Pilots, but remained on the pitch. She played against the Bulldogs on Sunday and will start this weekend.
During Oregon’s 4-1 victory over Gonzaga, two Oregon records were set. Bowns earned the program’s single-game assists record by registering three. She also netted a goal in the lop-sided victory, which snapped the Bulldogs’ eight-match streak without a loss.
Also in the match, junior goalkeeper Jessie Chatfield eclipsed Amanda Fox’s career wins record by registering her 24th victory. Fox played for Oregon from 1996-99.
Junior defender Darcie Gardner said the team focused mainly on conditioning Tuesday at practice.
“It was a challenging practice,” Gardner said. “We watched some film from last weekend and focused on a lot of the positive and good things we did to carry that over to this weekend.”
One positive that the team discovered?
“We ran some good combination plays,” Gardner said.
“It was a good game to have before USC and UCLA,” Erickson said.
Erickson said she and the team feel ready to take on the Pac-10, though they know it won’t be easy.
“Every team is almost in the position of grinding it out now,” Erickson said. “But you have to come in with a fresh record and it’s a clean sheet for everybody.”
Fox Sports Net will televise the UCLA match on a delayed basis on Oct. 18 at noon in the Northwest and in the Bay Area.
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