The Oregon soccer team (8-9-3, 3-6-2 Pac-12)@@goducks@@ closed out the season Friday night in Corvallis with a 1-1 tie@@schedule@@ with Oregon State (13-5-2, 7-3-1 Pac-12).@@http://www.osubeavers.com/sports/w-soccer/orst-w-soccer-body.html@@ Freshman Bri Pugh@@CE@@ scored her fourth goal of the year@@on downloadable stats@@ for the Ducks, and Abby Steele@@CE@@ was impressive between the posts, making seven saves@@http://www.goducks.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=4317&SPID=237&DB_LANG=C&ATCLID=205328343&DB_OEM_ID=500@@ to keep Oregon in the game.
“I think it was probably a fair result for the way that the game went,” Oregon head coach Tara Erickson@@CE@@ said. “But I always want to win.”
Oregon State opened the scoring early with Chelsea Buckland@@CE@@ beating Steele 13 minutes into the contest. The Ducks responded quickly, however, with Pugh punching in a goal in the 19th minute.
The goal was a huge boost for the Ducks, not only because it tied the game, but because it leveled emotions after Oregon State scored early.@@could be cut@@
“I think scoring the goal brought the momentum of our team up,” Pugh said.
Oregon State badly outshot the Ducks in the contest, but Steele was calm under pressure while facing 22 shots in her direction, eight of which were on target.@@http://www.goducks.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=4317&SPID=237&DB_LANG=C&ATCLID=205328343&DB_OEM_ID=500@@
Oregon State applied consistent pressure throughout the game, and their on-target shots in part led to 10 corner kicks, but Oregon’s defense handled the pressure.
In the first overtime period, Oregon State had four shots to Oregon’s one, but it was the Ducks who turned up the pressure in the last 15 minutes with four shots of their own.
For Oregon, the draw with the Beavers capped an up-and-down season that saw the Ducks play best against some of the Pac-12’s tougher competition and falter against teams they felt they should have beaten.
“Sometimes that can happen with a young team,” Erickson said.
The Ducks will lose only three players to graduation and will see a more mature team next year as Oregon’s 12 freshmen will all have a year of Pac-12 play under their belts.
“Not only the experience of the games this year,” Erickson said, “but having a whole off-season of training and gelling as a team will be a huge factor.”
The Ducks open a brand-new facility next year and look to begin a new era of Oregon soccer. As they look forward to next season, the Ducks also reflect on this season and the lessons it taught the Ducks’ 12 freshmen.
“It was a huge learning experience for our huge class of freshmen,” Pugh said, “and I’m very optimistic for the years to come.”