In a few weeks, the University of Oregon men’s club soccer team will make its fourth consecutive trip to the national tournament.
The senior-heavy squad is coming off a strong performance at the Utah regional tournament on Oct. 24-26 in Ogden, Utah, at the campus of Weber State University. Over those three days, Oregon won five games en route to a championship title, as well as an automatic bid to the national tournament.
The tournament will take place at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, Ala., on Nov. 20-22.
The Ducks began the tournament with a dominant 5-0 win over Idaho State, followed by a 2-1 victory against Utah State. The next morning Oregon came out with a 3-1 win against Utah Valley State to make it into the single-elimination semifinal round where the Ducks were matched up with the University of Utah. That game proved to be the Ducks’ toughest challenge at that point in the tournament, but strong defensive play was one of the keys to Oregon’s 2-0 win and a spot in the final round.
Oregon then matched up with a familiar opponent in the final round against Weber State, the same team the Ducks defeated in the championship round two years ago.
There proved to be no love lost, as the final game was one of the most physical games throughout the whole tournament, with three red cards handed out. But the physical play and penalties did not phase the Ducks as they came away with a 1-0 victory.
“One thing that can be said about our team is that win or lose, we are going to be there for each other,” senior Nicholas Bickle-Eldridge said. “We’re friends as much as we are teammates.”
While winning the regional tournament was a huge step in the right direction, the experienced team is staying focused on the task at hand: nationals. Nearly everyone on the roster has made the trip before and has a pretty good grasp on what to expect from the tournament.
The Ducks are led by the large senior class of Bickle-Eldridge, Ford Bauer, Raoni Demnitz, Loren Hill, Ben Kaufman, Michael Latteri, Jason Modahl, Nate Otani, Skyler Stevenson, Ryan Vilhauer and Patrick Walro.
Sean Loud and Chris Turney are the lone juniors on the team, while sophomores Zach Calvert, Scott Gardner, Kaveh Ghafarzade, Will Goodling and Joshua Herman will also look to make an impact at the national level. Rounding out the squad are freshmen Andrew Meyer and Apolinar Montero-Sanchez.
“The additions this year have stepped in and played an important role in our success thus far,” Bickle-EldridgeProxy-Connection: keep-alive
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aid.
In 2005, the last time the national tournament took place at the University of Alabama, the Ducks were able to take home a national title. Oregon has made it to the quarterfinals or further every year since then.
Now that they’re back in Alabama, this year’s team members hope to have some of the same magic they displayed in 2005.
But in order to be successful at the national tournament, the team will need to continue with the strong defensive effort that earned it the regional title while out-scoring its opponents 13-2. “When teams leave the field after playing us they are dead-tired, bruised and beat up,” Bickle-Eldridge said.
“Our goal each game is disrupt the other teams game plan and put them under a lot of pressure,” he said. “From there, we use our tactical ability and personal skill to take the game over.”
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