After starting goalie and team captain Jessie Chatfield went down with a torn ACL, the job was left open for competition between sophomore Tori Johnson and freshman Cody Miles. The latter was given the start in the season’s first contest against No. 6 ranked Portland and has not looked back since.
On Aug. 29 against Utah State, Miles received her first win along with her first shutout of her collegiate career.
“She has done a really great job. In some areas she has exceeded expectations,” head coach Tara Erickson said. “She is very genuine, sweet, nice and goes out of her way to make players feel welcome, as well as recruits. When it’s time to play, that sweet, niceness goes away and she gets down to business on the field.”
Her senior year of high school, Miles led her team to a 10-2-3 season, losing in the second round of the playoffs. Her season was highlighted by nine shutout games., and she was recognized for her play by being named the Central Valley Conference’s 2007 co-player of the year. She also helped lead her club team, Lake Oswego, to the state championship.
Miles’ biggest advantage is her athleticism. With four seasons ahead of her at Oregon, she has the potential to do great things for this team in the future while still being able to make an immediate impact. While playing keeper as a freshman will be tough, it looks like she will be a solid player for the team.
“She has done a great job of stepping into a challenging position,” Erickson said. “She has done a great job stepping in for a captain and starting senior goalkeeper.”
When all is said and done after her four years here, Miles wants to be remembered as the intense player who left it all on the field while being fun off of it.
“I want to be able to look back and say I played my best,” she said.