Today the No. 2 soccer team in the Pacific-10 Conference standings takes on the team that was originally picked to finish No. 2 in the Pac-10’s preseason coaches’ poll.
The Ducks (10-5-1 overall, 4-0-1 Pac-10) are currently sitting in second place in the standings, four positions and eight points ahead of California – the predicted second-place finisher. Oregon plays the Bears in Berkeley today before facing No. 17 Stanford (11-5-1, 4-1-1) on Sunday.
“We watched some game film of Cal on Tuesday, and they look very beatable,” defender Danielle Sweeney said. “We saw their weaknesses, and we know how to exploit them because they play with three tucked into the middle, and we’re gonna try and exploit the outside lane.
“That’s something we’re really good at, especially with Dani (Oster) and Allison (Newton) on the outside.”
Cal (8-4-4, 1-3-2) goes into today’s game coming off a surprising 2-0 loss to Washington State last weekend.
The Bears are 8-1 all-time against the Ducks, and have not lost to Oregon since 2003. But this might be the season that Oregon finally manages to chip away at Cal’s series lead.
Oregon and Cal’s results in Pac-10 play this season are incredibly similar. If numbers are any indication, the Ducks appear to have a slight edge over the Bears – Oregon beat both Arizona schools and Washington but tied Washington State. California beat Washington but tied the Wildcats and lost to both Arizona State and Washington State.
“Just going by how Cal has done against teams we’ve played, we’re pretty much evenly matched – there are a lot of one-goal differences,” senior forward Nicole Garbin said. “I think Stanford’s gonna be a tougher game.”
Stanford and Oregon both have similar overall records. But Stanford is known for its offensive firepower. The Cardinal leads the league in goals (30), assists (25) and points (85). They’ve won against the same teams the Ducks have defeated this year, but have done so by larger goal margins.
“We like to go into every game thinking that we have a chance,” Oregon coach Mike Smith said. “At this stage in the season, we like to think we’re fitter than some of the other teams out there. And (health-wise) we have everyone available for this weekend.”
Smith thinks the main difference between the team that will take the field against Cal today and the team that played Long Beach State in the season opener is chemistry.
“It’s taken a while for the team to gel and for team chemistry to develop in certain lines on the field,” Smith said. “In the beginning, different players would have big games at certain times, but never together. Everybody’s finally playing to their potential right now.”
Garbin has more than fulfilled her potential at this point. She enters the weekend coming off last Friday’s emotional win against Oregon State where she scored the game-winning goal and tied Chalise Baysa for Oregon’s career goals record.
With 16 records to her name, Garbin is now re-breaking records that she already holds. She needs just two more shots to break the single-season record of 70, a mark she set in 2003. She also needs only one more goal to break the school single-season record (10) which she set last year.
“I was really only set on breaking the career goals records, and game winning goals. I guess if I get one more (goal), I’ll have the record for season goals and career goals, and sure it’d be cool to extend the record, but you’ve got to look at other great players too,” Garbin said. “Like (Oregon State’s) Jodie Taylor. She’s only a junior and she has a whole other season to play, but she’s already got 32 goals right now.”
Garbin attributes some of her game smarts to the two seasons she spent on the bench with her knee injury.
“I feel like I learned so much from just being on the sideline and watching great forwards play,” Garbin said. “I learned a lot my sophomore year that I sat out, and I don’t think I’d have gained that insight if I’d been playing.”
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