Oregon travels up I-5 to Corvallis today for a Civil War contest with rival Oregon State.
The Ducks are still in search of their first conference win under head coach Tara Erickson and need a victory over the Beavers to keep alive their hopes of reaching the NCAAs.
Although Oregon State (8-5-1 overall, 1-2-1 conference) does not feature the same level of talent as Arizona or UCLA, team captain Katie Abrahamson of the Ducks assures they are not to be taken lightly.
“It’s definitely going to be a challenge,” Abrahamson said. “We’re very familiar with playing them and expect a lot of fouls and a fight until the end. We have the mentality that we can win any game and we’ve been that way all year. This game is crucial, we only have five games left and we need to win as many as we can.”
Today marks the final Civil War game for Abrahamson and the other seniors on Oregon’s roster. The Beavers hold a 2-1 edge over the senior Ducks, who have not scored a goal against Oregon State in two years.
“They beat us last year here and are up 2-1 over us,” Abrahamson said. “It’s time to level the playing field.”
After posting an impressive 8-1-1 record to start the season, the Ducks have been in a tailspin as of late, dropping the past four games to start conference play. They now have an identical record with the Beavers, who have also struggled against Pacific-10 Conference opponents. They lost to both Arizona and UCLA, but topped Arizona State and battled to a 0-0 tie with USC.
In her first year as head coach for Oregon, today marks the first Civil War game for Erickson, who is no stranger to the heated rivalry between the two schools. Playing at Washington and coaching for Portland State gave her a chance to sample Oregon and Oregon State soccer, which she feels is one of biggest rivalries on the west coast.
“I came from Portland State and we saw our games against Oregon State as rivalry games,” Erickson said. “Anytime you play a rival you get up for it and coaching her has given the rivalry a whole new meaning for me. It’s a traditional rivalry and I anticipate a heated game, it seems like every year the score is close.”
In their past three meetings, the away team has walked away the victor with latest being the Beavers, who blanked Oregon 3-0 last season in Eugene. In 2003 the story was different in Corvallis. Seniors Andrea Valadez and Nicole Garbin each scored goals to lead the Ducks to a 4-3 win in overtime. Mele French, now
Oregon’s student assistant, scored the game-winning goal midway through the third minute of overtime.
The winning team in the Civil War has scored at least three goals in six of the past eight meetings placing the Ducks at a disadvantage – they are yet to score three goals in a game this season.
Oregon may have to play without both Valadez and fellow senior starter Cristan Higa for the fourth straight game. They suffered injuries two weeks ago against Arizona and have not seen playing time since. Valadez is nursing an ankle injury and Higa has an ailing knee. As with last weekend, Erickson is tabbing whether or not they will play against the Beavers as a game-time decision.
The two injuries may have left Oregon short-handed, but they have received help from Sabrina DeMonte and Taylor Callan, who will likely start at midfield. The Ducks have a much-needed day off Sunday, which should help Erickson’s squad get healthy.
“Having Sunday off will be nice, it means we can put everything we have into the game and it gives us a chance to help our injured players get back,” Erickson said.
In its quest to earn the program’s first invitation to the NCAAs, this game is indeed crucial for Oregon, which is in need of conference wins or ties to secure a post-season berth.
“It can mean a ton if we can win this game,” Erickson said. “It’s a win-able game and so are our next few games and those are games we definitely have to win.”
Kickoff today is at 3 p.m. at Lorenz Field.
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