Katie O’Kane led Utah (4-4-3) with a hat trick as it defeated Oregon women’s soccer (0-9-2) 4-2 on Sunday.
The Ducks entered the match coming off a 3-1 loss to Colorado on Thursday. In that match, they conceded two costly second half goals to miss out on an opportunity to earn its first point in Pac-12 play. History repeated itself against Utah as a sequence of second half mistakes kept Oregon winless 11 games into its season.
The Utes controlled possession early in the game. They had several dangerous crosses inside the penalty area, but couldn’t back them up with quality shot attempts.
“We allowed them to have a little bit of a rhythm early on,” Oregon head coach Graeme Abel said. “So it probably cost us a little bit later on in terms of our legs.”
The Ducks conceded a penalty in the 18th minute on a foul by Anna Emperador that was barely inside the box. O’Kane stepped up to the spot for the Utes and smashed the ball into the bottom right of the net.
At this stage in the season, Oregon should be used to having to produce comeback efforts. In the 40th minute, the Ducks found themselves back in the game following a goal from Kaitlyn Paculba. The crowd at Papé Field erupted as Paculba curled in a shot from distance. For the second match in a row, Oregon found the first-half equalizer.
“The funny thing was she scored the exact same goal in the spring but from the opposite side,” Abel said of the goal. “She’s got the pace to cause problems. She did a great job.”
The Ducks stayed level with the Utes to begin the second half. Then, in the 59th minute, Oregon conceded the second penalty of the game. O’Kane converted from the spot once again to regain the lead.
“It’s just as difficult when you give away two penalties like that,” Abel said. “We’ve got to eradicate those mistakes because they’re basic errors and they’re costing us big time right now.”
It appeared as if the Ducks were going to equalize shortly after. Grace Mensah found herself wide open inside the Utah defensive third, but the Utes goalkeeper came up with a clutch save.
Another Utah goal came in the 80th minute as Lilliah Blum scored the Utes’ third score of the match. Oregon, however, still had some fight left in it. Only a few minutes later, Lauren Kenny found the bottom right of the goal off an assist by Mia McSweeney.
The Ducks couldn’t rally to finish the comeback, though. O’Kane completed the hat trick in the 85th minute to slam the door on another potential Oregon equalizer.
“In all honesty, did I expect to go this long without winning a game? No, but we knew we were going to be young and we knew it was going to take time,” Abel said.
“We’re so young in terms of the team and the experience on the job for those guys,” he said. “They’re getting better and better every game.”
The Ducks continue the Pac-12 season on the road as they head to Los Angeles. Their next match is Thursday against the University of Southern California (7-2-0, 3-0-0 Pac-12) at 3 p.m. on Pac-12 Network.
