The Oregon women’s soccer team began Big Ten play with a lackluster game, losing to UCLA 2-0. After an inaugural season that saw Oregon only win one Big Ten game, the Ducks are looking to show that they can be a better Big Ten contender this year.

Last season the Ducks went 5-11-2 in overall play and 1-8-2 in conference play. Before the season, Oregon decided it needed to shake things up – first, on staff, head coach Graeme Abel and assistant coaches Rachael Doyle and Sean Mapson left in late October 2024. University of California, Davis head coach Tracy Joyner took the helm and brought with her assistant coach Chris King. Assistant coach Kat Benton-LaEzza joined from California State University, Chico.

Joyner took to the transfer portal almost immediately. A well-respected coach at UC Davis, Joyner flexed those relationships to bring in midfielder Abella Hunter, goalkeeper Gia Kiesling, defender Elise Picard and defender Jayde Holley. More key additions to the Ducks defense are Boise State’s Jasmine Young, who helped the Broncos win the 2024 Mountain West Conference title, and Brooke Juncaj, a redshirt freshman from USC. These transfers have been working well for the Ducks so far. Last season the Ducks only managed to net 15 total goals. Through seven games in 2025 they have managed to score eight already while also conceding eight goals.

Transfers Carys Hall and Savannah Holley (sister of Jayde Holley) were brought in to bolster the offense. Defensively, through the first seven games last season, the Ducks had 10 goals, but gave up 11. To get that goal differential to go the Ducks way, Oregon brought in more backfield transfers in Bryana Pizarro and Kate Cheldelin.

Although they’re on track to beat the lackluster scoring record of last season, the Ducks have started off in a less than ideal place. Going into conference play last season the Ducks sat just above .500 at 4-3-0. This season on the other hand, going into conference play the Ducks are 2-4-1. The slow start to the season is not something the Ducks wanted to see; however, that does not mean they should be written off.

Joyner has shown in her history that she can put together a winning team. With a Big West Coach of the Year title, coaching UC Davis to the best school record in D1 NCAA history at 15-3-3 and having an overall record as a coach at 127- 77-27, Joyner no doubt has the background to get Oregon going. Assistant coach LaEzza also has a history in getting teams to where they want to go. LaEzza was 36-21-17 at Chico State, getting them into the California Collegiate Athletic Association Championships in 2021 and 2022.

Oregon did start off against a formidable opponent in No. 3 UCLA. The Bruins were 4-2 and on a three game win streak going into their matchup in Los Angeles against the Ducks. UCLA was also coming off a great win where they took down former No. 1 Stanford, while they themselves were ranked No. 18.

In Los Angeles, the Ducks lost the game 2-0. Overall on the night, the Ducks had only three shots on goal, gave up 12 fouls and were offside twice. Oregon did not have a good night offensively by any means. They seemingly were shut down by the UCLA midfield and defense almost every time they had an opportunity to create anything.

Despite the loss, Oregon’s defense was pretty solid. Goalkeeper Caeley Goldstein had a nice evening commanding the box; however, the Bruins were able to net two goals, not all Goldstein’s fault. The Oregon defense had an issue with costly second half penalties in the box which resulted in those two Bruins’ goals. With the loss, Oregon moved to 2-5-1 on the season and 0-1-0 in conference play.

Over the next couple of weeks, Oregon will go on a stretch of unranked play consisting of Illinois, Northwestern, Purdue and Indiana. The Ducks will not play another ranked Big Ten team until Oct. 3, when they take on the USC Trojans at Papé Field.

This upcoming set of games will be one Oregon will want to capitalize on. If the offense can get going quicker and stronger earlier in the game, and if the defense cleans up the penalties, the Ducks have the opportunity to take away a couple of wins from this stretch before they go back into ranked play.

Oregon’s next game will be at Purdue on Sept. 25, and their next home game will be against USC on Oct. 3.