The Oregon men’s club soccer team opened its season this past weekend at home with a near sweep of in-state foes Oregon State and Portland State.
The Ducks were led by forward Apolinar Montero-Sanchez, who had two goals and an assist on the rain-soaked weekend, as the team beat Oregon State 2-1 on Saturday and tied Portland State 2-2 on Sunday.
Oregon proved to be in control for much of the game with Oregon State, holding a 2-0 lead until the 80th minute when the Beavers knocked in their lone goal.
The Ducks opened the scoring early when player-head coach Kyle Wallace scored off a corner cross from winger Emmanuel Luvert in the fourth minute.
“He just sent a little chip over their two defenders who were coming to him,” Wallace said. “I think I was just crashing to the ball, and I followed it through the keeper and into the goal.”
Montero-Sanchez then drove in a score off an assist from Gerald Buxton in the 65th minute to give the Ducks a two-goal advantage. The play proved to be one of the highlights of the weekend.
After the ball was cleared out from Oregon defensive territory to the midfield, Buxton flicked a pass with the side of his foot, perfectly setting up Montero-Sanchez for the goal.
“He just had one-on-one with the keeper and scored real easy,” player-assistant coach Zach Calvert said. “It was a beautiful play.”
However, the team struggled early in their match the following day against Portland State, where the Ducks fell down 1-0 just three minutes into the game. Oregon rallied back after Ian McNaughton scored off a creative header off a cross from Montero-Sanchez in the 36th minute, and Montero-Sanchez netted a goal of his own five minutes later. They held a 2-1 halftime lead.
That advantage didn’t last long after intermission, when the Vikings evened the score with a goal off a corner kick within the first five minutes of the second half.
The physical nature of the Sunday’s contest resulted in one key injury for the Ducks, as Buxton sustained a concussion. Wallace said the blow to the head occurred when Buxton jumped up for a header.
Wallace doubts Buxton will be available for the team’s next game, but expects him to be ready by next weekend.
“He’s a warrior,” Wallace said. “He’s one of those guys who doesn’t like to sit out, and he gets anxious when he doesn’t get a chance to play.”
The Ducks are starting their season a week later than they expected after the previous weekend’s game with Lewis & Clark was cancelled. Calvert pointed to the young season as a potential factor in the team’s stumbles against Portland State.
“We’re still kind of working out how to incorporate the new guys, how each of us plays,” he said. “There’s a little bit of building of chemistry that is required.”
“We’ve got to shake off that rustiness to get that confidence back to be successful,” Wallace added. “We were a little timid this weekend at some points, and that’s an area we can improve on the more we play together.”
Despite the adequate performance this weekend by the team as a whole, Calvert praised some of the team’s freshmen for their play. He was especially impressed with left wing Ryan Trupner’s composure and level-headed play.
“Some freshmen, when they get out there for their first game, they’re easily rattled, but definitely not the case with him,” Calvert said. “He was ready to play and his mind-set was in the right place.”
Calvert also commended freshman midfielder Daley Stevens for his quickness and decision making.
For both of the contests, the Ducks had to endure all-too-familiar wet and dismal weather Eugene fall weather. Wallace said such conditions can have a considerable impact on the game.
“When it starts pouring like that, the turf just turns slick like ice,” he said. “It’s hard to really stay concentrated enough for the entirety of the game to keep your passes all perfectly weighted … it’s just another element that makes it difficult, and you have to adapt to it.”
The Ducks continue their season Wednesday as they head up Interstate 5 to take on the University of Portland.
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