Locked in a 2-2 tie, the Oregon men’s club soccer team was the verge of putting away the decisive goal time and time again during the second half of Saturday’s game against Southern Oregon. The frustration mounted and the urgency picked up after each shot that traveled wide of the goal post or was blocked by the Southern Oregon keeper.
But in the 89th minute, the Ducks finally broke through. Luke Connolly controlled a corner kick on the far post and fired a shot that was knocked down by the keeper, but trickled past the goal line to give Oregon the goal and its second win of the season.
“During the 15 minutes we had a little more urgency going for that final third,” Connolly said. “That shot was goalbound and then the guy knocked it in, so I’ll take it.”
The Ducks got out to a sluggish start in the first half and Southern Oregon didn’t waste any time capitalizing. In the seventh minute, outside midfielder Ryan Tucker crossed a ball in from the right side and found Jesus De La Cruz, who headed it in to give the Raiders an early 1-0 lead.
Southern Oregon kept the pressure on, stringing together a series of passes just outside the 18-yard box in the 12th minute. A Southern Oregon player finally got a shot off inside the box, but Oregon keeper Mak Lindquist pushed the shot around the goal post on an outstanding diving save.
“It was definitely a little slow at the beginning,” Oregon center back and head coach Alex Riley said. “I don’t think we came out with the passion that we usually come out with. But once we started getting into the feel of things, it really started coming together.”
As the first half progressed, Oregon’s defenders started to find the midfielders with plenty of time to either dribble into space or find the next pass. The Ducks started to push the ball into Southern Oregon’s half of the field and soon enough had the points on the board to show for it.
In the 26th minute, Yutaro Tahara had a one-on-one with a defender when a teammate volleyed a pass into the box. The Southern Oregon defender tried to clear the ball with a high kick, but instead connected with Tahara’s face, resulting in a yellow card and penalty kick. Connolly put away the kick moments later to even the score.
Oregon continued its attack and after stringing together a few passes, Joe Jackson found the back of the net in the 28th minute for his first goal of the season. Oregon would take that 2-1 lead into halftime.
In the 53rd minute, Southern Oregon’s Greg Rapet capitalized on a misplay by Riley to tie the game. One of Rapet’s teammates fed him a ball over the top and Riley lost the ball in the sun, allowing Rapet to one-touch the ball over the head of Lindquist and make it a 2-2 match.
From that point on, Oregon dominated the possession game and the ball was on Southern Oregon’s half of the field more often than not.
“There were a lot of times where we would try to get caught up in playing long balls or trying to take the extra shot instead of the extra pass,” center defensive back Andrew Wohl said. “What we really needed to do was swing the ball from side to side, possess it and play our game.”
In the 64th minute, an Oregon corner kick was headed from the far post back towards the center of the field where Jackson headed a shot that was saved by the Southern Oregon’s keeper.
A minute later, Oregon’s Louis Tanguy took a shot from just outside the 18-yard box that hit off the goal post and rebounded back to Jackson. The senior midfielder took another shot on goal, but the keeper made the save from point-blank range.
There were a handful other golden opportunities in the second half for Oregon to score, but strikers and midfielders were just unable to put the ball away. But after applying pressure to Southern Oregon’s back line time and time again, the Ducks finally broke through on Connolly’s late goal.
“We definitely had a lot of shots that we could have scored on and I think that’s what we need to work on these next couple of practices,” Riley said. “We need to finish the ball better. But I’m really happy that we scored and got three points. It was a big win for us.”
Oregon travels to Corvallis on Sunday to take on the Oregon State club soccer team and will host the Beavers next Sunday at 10 a.m. at the UO Rec Fields. You can find more information about the Oregon club team on their Facebook page.
Follow Chris Mosch on Twitter @chris_mosch