Oregon women’s soccer (0-8-2) is still winless 10 games into its season as it fell 3-1 against Colorado (9-2-0) on Thursday.
The Ducks came into the match following a difficult 3-0 loss on the road against Arizona to open conference play. They desperately needed a win or draw against a good Buffaloe team to turn their season in the right direction.
Oregon started the matchup by dominating possession and keeping the ball out of its defensive third. The game quickly took a turn for the worse when Colorado got its first shot attempt in the 10th minute. Moments later, the Buffaloes regained possession after a pair of blocked attempts. Shyra James found the back of the net following a defensive miscue by the Ducks.
However, Oregon didn’t give up hope. Leah Parsons, who was making her first appearance in goal in her collegiate career, came up with several big saves. Despite conceding in her first 10 minutes as a goalkeeper, she didn’t lose her confidence.
“We know she’s got a big future ahead,” Oregon head coach Graeme Abel said. “She can kick, super athletic. You saw the save that she made in there, how she handled some of the corners. They have a big team, a big set piece team and I thought she handled some of the corners they put on top of her really well.”
Strong play from Parsons and the Ducks’ defense kept them in the game. In the 29th minute, Kristen Conti scored the equalizer off a corner delivery from Alice Barbieri. Conti’s goal was Oregon’s first goal at home and its fourth overall this season.
The Ducks appeared to have all the momentum but didn’t find a second goal. The two teams headed into the locker room tied at one goal apiece.
“We spoke about at halftime about not losing control and getting into their style of game of being directed,” Abel said. “So that’s the direction we went in the second half. So first half [I was] really, really pleased with in terms of that piece and our ability to get on the ball, really moved them around and stuff like that was a big, big, big, big progress for us.”
Oregon continued to lock down Colorado at the beginning of the second half. In the 61st minute, though, the Buffaloes were awarded a freekick in their attacking third. Parsons made her first big mistake of the game, as she got off her line and allowed the ball to slip past her.
Colorado didn’t take much longer to put the game out of reach. Only a minute later, the Buffaloes scored off a corner to balloon the lead to 3-1. The Ducks didn’t have a comeback in them this time.
“The big thing I could take from it is just the way we played in the first half. And we just got poise on the ball and the confidence on the ball and things like that,” Abel said. “It just shows you that these kids still believe in what they can do. They still got the quality there and they still believe in that quality.”
Oregon shifts its focus to its next matchup against Utah (4-3-4). It will be its fifth home game of the season. The matchup is set to kick off at 1 p.m. PST.
