After a long wait, the Oregon soccer team will find out this weekend if its 3-8 record is actually worth something.
Losses to top-ranked foes — the most recent being to No. 21 Florida State on Sunday — mean that the Ducks will carry their worst preseason record in their four-year history into Pacific-10 Conference play.
But the preseason, at least the record, means next to nothing when Oregon starts playing with the Pac-10.
“Our goal has always been to finish in the top half of the Pac-10,” junior forward Chalise Baysa said after Sunday’s game.
Oregon opens up Pac-10 play this weekend with home games against unranked foes Arizona State on Friday and Arizona on Sunday, respectively. Friday’s game against the Sun Devils starts at 3 p.m., while Sunday’s game against the Wildcats kicks off at 1 p.m. at Papé Field.

Crystal K.O.’ed
Junior forward Crystal David, a transfer from San Francisco, was a little too aggressive against a Florida State defender on Sunday and aggravated an old injury.
David was led off the field after she re-injured her medial collateral ligament in a tussle for a loose ball. David first injured her MCL against San Diego on Aug. 29th, then played in a game three days later against Santa Clara only to re-aggravate the injury. She missed Oregon’s next game against Portland.
When David hasn’t been injured, she has been one of Oregon’s top performers on offense. She is tied with Baysa as the team leader in goals with three, and leads the team with eight total points. Her two assists tie her with Melissa Parker and Annie Murphy for second-best on the team, yet all of David’s offense has come despite the fact that she has only started four games in an Oregon uniform.

More Ducks down…and up
Midfielder T.J. Johnson, one of only three Oregon seniors, is also questionable for this weekend’s matchups after bruising a rib against Xavier on Sept. 22. The Eugene-native played in all of the Ducks’ games this season before being injured.
At the same time, sophomore goalkeeper Jeanine Norstad returns to the Ducks’ lineup this weekend after missing four games with a hyper-extended left elbow. Norstad had been sharing time with classmate Sarah Peters and had played almost two full games in the net before being injured.

Let the records talk, and confuse you
Arizona State just can’t get any respect.
Despite losing its first game of the season last weekend and having a 9-1 record, the Sun Devils are unranked in the NSCAA/Adidas poll. Maybe the coaches who voted in that poll looked at the teams that Arizona State beat up to have the Pac-10’s best record. The teams include Eastern Michigan, Sacramento State, Northern Arizona and Pittsburgh.
The Sun Devils have scored in every game they have played, and have scored more than three goals on five separate occasions. Arizona State has also played tough defense, giving up only seven goals in ten games — five of which came at the feet of Brigham Young last weekend.
Meanwhile, the Sun Devils’ neighbor to the south, Arizona, has a record of futility. The Wildcats have a 3-6-1 record and were 1-6-1 heading into their own Starwoods Plaza Soccer Classic last weekend, where they defeated Long Island 2-1 in overtime and Northern Arizona 1-0.
Speaking of overtime, the Long Island match was the Cats’ fifth overtime game of the season, and their second win in the extra session. After losses to Tennessee and Vanderbilt to open the season, all but one of Arizona’s games have been decided by one goal.