The Oregon men’s club soccer team emerged from a physical match on Sunday against Western Oregon with a 5-0 win, their first of the season.
Oregon was held to a scoreless draw at Portland State University in Saturday’s season opener, but they struck early on their home turf. In the second minute, senior Joe Jackson drew a foul inside the opposing box, resulting in a penalty kick. Center midfielder Daley Stevens buried the kick in the back of the net to give Oregon a 1-0 lead.
Armed with the early advantage, the Ducks controlled the ball in the early going. In the 20th minute, Oregon got a corner kick following a deflected shot. The cross was punched away by the Western Oregon keeper, but the Ducks regained possession and slotted the ball to defensive back, Zach Donner, who put it away to make it a 2-0 game.
In the 30th minute, Donner was on the receiving end of a hard slide on a 50-50 ball that resulted in a red card for a Western Oregon player. The Wolves played a man down the rest of the game and Donner was shaken up on the play, but he rebounded quickly to make a key defensive stop moments later. In the 33rd minute, a Western Oregon player floated a ball past the defense and into the box. The ensuing scrum left the Ducks with empty net, but Donner was able to stop the shot that followed to keep Western Oregon off the board.
Donner, a senior, played all over the field last season, often switching off between being a striker and playing defense. Through two games, Donner appears to have found his home in the back.
“He was a great forward, but he has the physical presence,” player-coach Alex Riley said. “This year we were lacking center backs and we know that Zach is just dominant back there, so we decided to put him back there. Yesterday we had a game against PSU and he played fantastic and showed that he’s a dominant force back there.”
The Ducks went into halftime with a 2-0 lead and kicked off the second half with another score on a penalty kick. Ian Malony took a pass from a teammate up the left side of the field but a Western Oregon defender was whistled for a foul inside the penalty box. Malony finished what he started, putting away the penalty kick to give the Ducks a 3-0 lead.
Despite playing a man down, the Wolves played the Ducks very physically in the second half. The referee had his work cut out for him throughout the match, with both squads whistled for several fouls. Western Oregon was carded four times (one red) and Oregon received a pair of yellow cards.
“We’re not going to back down, that’s for sure,” center defensive back Andrew Wohl said. “Our game is playing on the ground, playing one-, two-touch and swinging the ball side-to-side with possession. But if we need to, we can be physical—we have a strong back line.”
The Ducks continued to apply pressure throughout the second half and finished the game with a 20-to-6 shot advantage over the Wolves. In the 73rd minute Yutaro Tahara had the opportunity to extend the lead on a breakaway, but was denied on a nice stop by the keeper. Moments later, Stevens nearly added his second goal of the game, but his chip shot rattled off the crossbar.
In the 83rd minute, Tahara got another scoring opportunity and this time, he made the most of it. He dribbled down the right side of the field on a breakaway and fired the ball past the keeper to give the Ducks a 4-0 lead. Oregon added a fifth goal in the 90th minute, when Stevens intercepted a pass at midfield and dished it off to Nick Lynch, who found the back of the net.
Western Oregon had an opportunity to get on the board during extra time when Oregon was caught off guard on a counter-attack. A Western Oregon striker cut back on one of Oregon’s center backs and had a one-on-one with Oregon keeper Mak Lindquist. Lindquist knocked the ball down on the initial save, but the offensive player cut the ball back and it rolled towards the net. Wohl raced in to make a sliding save, clearing the ball to deny the Wolves of the goal.
“I knew if I was able to turn my body and catch the ball as it was coming onto the line and just scoop it out, I would be able to get it,” Wohl said.
The Oregon men’s club team’s next game will be next Saturday at 2:00 p.m. when they host Southern Oregon University at the UO Rec Fields. You can find more information about the club team on their Facebook page.
Follow Chris Mosch on Twitter @chris_mosch