Dylann Tharp wasn’t ready to sit down, so she didn’t.
The senior paced. She cheered. She directed.
Oregon (8-8-4 overall, 1-4-4 Pacific-10) was trailing No. 19 California 2-0 Sunday, and Tharp was getting her first look from the sidelines.
“My voice was kind of cracking as it got closer to the end,” Tharp said. “I was just trying to help them as much as I could and be a little more strategic. I was trying to be as positive as possible and it worked I think. Those girls played their butts off.”
Eventually, the scoreboard struck 90:00 and the Ducks lost 3-0 in their final match of the regular season. Cal’s Caitlin Hannegan scored two goals; Valerie Barnes kicked in one.
And two careers ended.
Teresa Bowns put a gentle hand on Tiffany Smith, Oregon’s other senior. Nicole Dobrzynski wrapped her arms around Tharp.
“I’m pretty upset about the loss in general, but knowing this is the last time I will step on this field with a jersey on is pretty emotional for me,” Tharp said. “I feel like I did all I could while I was out here and no regrets.”
Oregon 0, Stanford 0
Oregon ended a match in a tie for the fourth time in six matches, this time on Saturday against Stanford.
“I’ve never had such a stretch of overtime matches but I think it also shows our kids are battling, and that’s a good team,” coach Tara Erickson said of Stanford, which came in ranked fifth in the nation.
The Ducks were outshot 24-3 in the match. Erickson said all that mattered is that none of them went in.
“It doesn’t matter until the ball goes into the back of the net and the end result is still 0-0,” Erickson said.
Jessica Goodell, Jen Stoltenberg and Kirstie Kuhns each took a shot.
Junior goalkeeper Jessie Chatfield made six saves in the first half, six in the second and two in overtime to tie her career record for saves with 12 total; fortunately for Chatfield, she didn’t have to dive for every one of them.
“There were a lot of shots I didn’t have to deal with,” Chatfield said. “I think they were dangerous, but just outside the frame, which was helpful. … Our defensive line was really amazing today.”
Oregon, which was outshot 11-2 and 5-0 in corner kicks by halftime, utilized a conservative 4-5-1 formation most of the game to parallel Stanford’s impenetrable defense.
“I think we had to use it to control the game, but I think the kids did a great job of sticking to the game plan of defending and attempting to attack,” Erickson said.
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