It was exactly the start Oregon needed.
It was the Civil War. It was in Corvallis. It was nothing short of spectacular.
“It was a fairly amazing turn of events today,” Oregon head coach Bill Steffen said in a release. “But the team came together and wouldn’t go down.”
In the Oregon women’s soccer team’s first conference game of the season, the Ducks won in dramatic fashion, 4-3, after coming back from a first half deficit of 3-1. It was Oregon’s first Civil War win since 1999, and the victory increased the Ducks’ series lead to 5-2-1.
With its seventh win of the season, Oregon (7-5, 1-0) has now tied its second-highest win total in the program’s seven-year history. The Ducks finished 7-11-1 in 1999 and had their best season record of 8-8-2 in 2001.
The Beavers fell to 4-7-1 overall and 0-1-0 in Pacific-10 Conference play.
Oregon State was the dominant team early on and managed to jump out to a 2-0 lead in the first half. It was all done thanks to the scoring of forward Tessa Baker.
Baker scored off an assist by forward Stacey Mescher just 3 minutes and 18 seconds into the game and connected again unassisted at 25:21 off a rebound in front of the goal.
“Our intensity level wasn’t where it needed to be early, and we gave them some goals we shouldn’t have,” Steffen said.
Oregon answered shortly thereafter, at 28:12, when redshirt freshman Andrea Valadez was set up on a header off a header attempt from sophomore Carlie Ashcraft.
The Beavers increased their lead to 3-1 before the half, when midfielder Lindsey Beem sent one to the back of the net from the top of the box.
In what always appears to be a physical battle between the two rivals, Oregon State was called for 17 fouls in the second half after only six in the first half.
Oregon was able to capitalize on the Oregon State fouls. Senior Lindsey Werdell and redshirt sophomore Nicole Garbin each scored on their second penalty kick goals of the season at 61:54 and 76:35, respectively. In overtime, sophomore Mele French beat two defenders up field at 2:25 to give Oregon the victory.
“Lindsey, Nicole and also Mary (Etter) really helped get the team back into it during our halftime talk, and we just took it one goal at a time,” Steffen said. “Mele asserted herself all game long, and her winning shot was a truly great run with a natural touch on the shot.”
Oregon State head coach Steve Fennah was disgusted with the officiating.
“It was a good game,” Fennah said in the Oregon State press release Friday. “As a coaching staff, we’ve never been in the situation before where we don’t really know what to tell our players. They were totally in control of the game, and an official decides he’s going to change the course of the game.
“I hate to say the referee affected the game, but I think in this case, it’s justified.”
Oregon edged the Beavers 28-11 in shots, only allowing one in the second half, and 13-2 in corner kicks. Oregon State was flagged for more fouls, 23-13.
Goalkeeper Domenique Lainez recorded three saves in the victory. For Oregon State, goalkeeper Melissa Onstad recorded eight saves, six of them coming in the first half.
Oregon continues conference play this weekend when the Ducks head north to face 2002 NCAA Tournament veterans Washington State on Friday and Washington on Sunday.