The Oregon women’s soccer team is heading to the Bay Area this weekend to face the ultimate test.
The Ducks will match up with 11th-ranked Cal today at 3:30 p.m., then face No.1-ranked Stanford on Sunday.
“We are always excited for challenges, but it is a question of how we respond,” head coach Bill Steffen said. “It will be nice because the players can be away from our setting here and relax a little more and have a bit of down time.”
Oregon has never won against either the Golden Bears or the Cardinal, losing five times to both teams. It will be a tough challenge for the Ducks because in the past five years they have only scored once on both teams and have lost by a combined score of 27-2.
“It’s going to take us having a pretty complete effort in terms of both our desire and our work rate as well as our execution,” Steffen said. “If we can get all cylinders firing, we’re a good team and we can play with anybody in the country and expect a good result.”
Cal, like Oregon, has faced a rough schedule this season but has beaten three top-15-ranked teams. Freshman midfielder Tracy Hamm leads the team in goals with seven and points with 44.
In goal, junior Sani Post has started six of the last nine matches for the Bears with 25 saves and a 0.86 goal allowed average. Cal has made four-straight NCAA appearances and claimed the Pac-10 title in 1998.
“Cal is going to be a little more blue collar-ish, more straightforward and a little more hard-working,” Steffen said.
Stanford is rolling and just moved into the top national spot with North Carolina’s loss to North Carolina State last weekend. The Cardinal are 11-1-0 — with their only loss coming to the Tar Heels — and have held five top-20 teams scoreless, including No.4 Texas and No.6 Texas A&M.
Junior forward Marcie Ward leads Stanford in goals, with seven, and shots, with 42. Sophomore goalkeeper Nicole Barnhart has been on fire as she was named Pac-10 Player of the Week last weekend for her shutouts against USC and UCLA accumulating 12 saves .
“Stanford is going to be more technical because they’ve got some players that are very good on the ball,” Steffen said. “Stanford is on a roll, and it will be a test for us to see if we can stop that roll.”
Oregon is 1-8-2 overall, 0-1-1 in Pac-10 play, and is coming off a loss to Washington last weekend to start conference play. The Ducks faced Washington State on Sunday at Papé Field and came away with a 1-1 tie in double-overtime.
If the Ducks can work together and force their opponents to make a few costly mistakes, they may have a chance in games that seem to present none.
“We just need to work together, because when we work together, we click and everything comes together,” freshman forward Valerie Mayer said. “They have some good forwards and a couple players in the back that are strong, so we just have to find all their weaknesses.”