It could be said that Oregon’s season is not going as expectFor most of the game against Portland, Oregon remained competitive. However, halfway through the second half, with the score tied at 2-2, the Ducks succumbed to the might of the Pilots’ offensive firepower.
Portland scored three unanswered goals in the final 20 minutes to pull away for a 5-2 victory over the Ducks on Friday.
The scoring came in waves, with Portland’s Lindsey Huie notching the first goal at 12:10 from 10 yards out with an assist by Christine Sinclair. Seven minutes later, Oregon freshman Kami Kapaku returned the favor by scoring her first collegiate goal on a left-footed strike from 17 yards out. On Sinclair’s second assist of the game, Lisa Sari put the Pilots ahead before halftime with a header to the far post at 44:36.
“We knew that we had to get a goal going into half, and we were running short on time,” Sari said. “There was only about thirty seconds left, and I knew (Sinclair) was going to cross it, so I took off toward the goal and just tried to get my head on it.”
The match remained at 2-1 until Oregon’s senior defender, Christine Mintz, scored her second goal of the season to tie the game at 67:35.
However, the match did not remain tied for long. All-American Sinclair scored off a one-on-one against Duck goalkeeper Domenique Lainez at 70:23. The Portland offense found life after that, scoring two more goals — by Kelli Cronkrie and Michele Scifo — in the final 10 minutes.
“We started off slow, allowing them to stay in the game,” Cronkrie said. “They wanted to knock us off, and the in-state rivalry added another motivation to the game for both sides. Oregon is a scrappy team that is much better then their record indicates.” For Portland, Sinclair’s five points (3 assists, 1 goal) tied the season high by a Duck opponent and tied the all-time record for most assists in a game against the Ducks.
In team comparisons, Portland led in shots (27-7), corner kicks (5-0) and offside penalties (4-1), while Oregon held advantages in saves (12-3) and fouls (12-8).
“You could feel it in the air tonight,” Garrett Smith, Portland’s associate director of soccer, said. “Things were not going our way, but we came out on top.”
In the second match of the weekend, the Ducks ended a month-long road trip with a 2-0 loss to Portland State on Sunday afternoon at PGE Park.
Portland State scored first at the 9:04 mark on a 10-yard shot by midfielder Annie Peccia on an assist by midfielder Julie Forrest. The Vikings scored again in the final minute of the game, when midfielder Sophia Mundy beat Lainez on a one-on-one opportunity created by Peccia.
Kapaku led Oregon with a game-high four shots, and junior defender Katie Abrahamson, sophomore forward Andrea Valadez and freshman midfielder Jen Cameron each added two attempts.
For Portland State, defender Julie Edwards led the Vikings in shots (3), and three players had single shots on goal.
On defense, Lainez came up with one save, and Portland State’s Niki Brooks pulled in six saves.
In comparison, the Ducks held a 14-9 advantage in shots and a 5-1 advantage in corner kicks.
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