Best Team
Women’s Soccer: Before 2006, the Oregon women’s soccer team had never had a winning season. They were picked to finish last in the Pacific-10 Conference this year, and had never beaten a top-10 team. The Ducks took the soccer world by storm. Led by second-year coach Tara Erickson, Oregon finished the season 12-6-2 overall, second in the Pac-10, and ranked seventeenth in the country. The Ducks won eight out of their last 10 games, and finished the season with wins over No. 24 Arizona and No. 3 UCLA. Erickson was named Pac-10 Coach of the Year, and senior striker Nicole Garbin was honored as the Pac-10 Player of the Year. The team expected to go to the national tournament, but never got their chance.
Most Exciting Game (TIE)
Football: vs. Oklahoma, Sept. 16: Fans streamed out of the stadium. Trailing 33-20, what transpired next in Autzen Stadium will be talked about for years to come for many different reasons. But behind Dennis Dixon’s legs and arm, the Ducks scored twice in a span of 16 seconds to take a 34-33 lead and then blocked a potential game-winning field goal to whip the Autzen faithful into a frenzy.
Soccer: vs. No. 3 UCLA, Nov. 3: Drama from start till finish. Sixty-third minute: Oregon scores a goal. 1-0. 78th minute: Oregon gives UCLA an own goal. 1-1. Final 45 seconds, UCLA beats Oregon to the goal, goalkeeper Jessie Chatfield is down, UCLA shoots to score. Dylann Tharp jumps out and blocks the ball with her body right before it crosses the goal line. Now we’re in overtime. Shots are exchanged, but neither side can find the back of the net. And then it’s double-overtime. With 2:30 left, Allison Newton finds Nicole Garbin open in the UCLA penalty box. Garbin spins, dribbles, fires and ends it. The Ducks and their fans are going crazy because unranked Oregon has just trumped the No. 3 team in the country – a win that everyone assumed would be enough to put Oregon in the national tournament. Or so they thought.
Biggest Letdown
Football vs. California: No. 11 Oregon entered Berkeley, Calif. to take on No. 16 Cal in a battle of teams hoping to remain unblemished in conference play. The Ducks were 4-0 and hot off a 48-13 victory on the road at Arizona State, but turned the ball over five times in a sign of things to come in the rest of the season as they were soundly beaten 45-24.
Biggest Surprise
Volleyball: At the beginning of the year, modest improvements could have been a reasonable expectation for the Oregon volleyball team. They had a young roster, headlined by freshman phenom Sonja Newcombe, and three seniors in Kristen Bitter, Heather Madison and Erin Little. Oregon exceeded all those expectations by going unbeaten in non-conference play and at one point, stood at 17-4, 7-4 in the Pac-10. Even though they lost seven consecutive matches to end the season, Oregon earned a trip to the NCAA Tournament, where they lost to No. 12 Hawaii in the first round.
Biggest Headline
Football vs. Oklahoma: In the most disputed call of the football season, the officials of the Oregon-Oklahoma game reviewed the Ducks’ onside kick and despite visual evidence of Oregon wide receiver Brian Paysinger touching the ball before it went a full 10 yards, the refs stood by their original call. After the Oregon win, the Pac-10 suspended the official who reviewed the replay and Oklahoma president David Boren asked for the game to be wiped from the records.
Best Individual Performance
Nicole Garbin, Women’s Soccer: In Garbin’s sixth year with the Oregon women’s soccer team, she thoroughly rewrote the Oregon record books and carried the team to a second-place Pac-10 finish and a No. 17 national ranking. The Pac-10 Player of the Year now owns 16 school records, including career points, goals, game-winning goals, assists, and game-winning assists. Her soccer career came to a premature end when the team was left out of the NCAA tournament, but look out for her at Mac Court next term – she’s traded in her cleats for high tops, and is now playing for the women’s basketball team.