Three minutes and 50 seconds into overtime on Friday night, moments after a disorganized scramble right in front of the Beavers’ goal that involved three missed shots and two gravity-defying saves by Oregon State goalkeeper Melissa Onstad, Oregon striker Nicole Garbin found the ball at her feet.
And, like 30 times before, she sent the ball flying into the back of the net.
Garbin’s 31st career goal was the one that tied her with Chalise Baysa for Oregon’s career goals record.
Garbin’s 31st career goal was the one that guaranteed Oregon (10-5-1 overall, 4-0-1 Pacific-10 Conference) its first winning season in 10 years.
Garbin’s 31st career goal was the one that made Oregon coach Tara Erickson cry.
Erickson’s clear blue eyes were wet with tears that night as she stood in the middle of her team’s postgame huddle, taking in the sight of the group of girls jumping up and down around her with their arms around each other, almost mad with euphoria as they chanted, “Oregon, you know, say what? Oregon. You know, say what?”
“I’m not just speechless, there are a few tears in my eyes, which probably made (the team) happy,” Erickson said. “But how could you not be? How could you not be excited about what we just did and the manner in which we did it? All those big milestones.”
Garbin celebrated her 31st career goal by pulling a bunch of keys out of her left sock and jingling them frenetically as she ran around the field in excitement, with her teammates trying to catch up to celebrate.
The sixth-year senior said she’d taken the keys from the team’s equipment manager in the break between the end of regulation and overtime.
“I just put the keys in my sock right before overtime,” Garbin said. “I felt like I was going to score. So I went to Gina (Pappas, the equipment manager) and was like, ‘Do you have keys on you? Your car keys?’ And she was like, ‘No, but I have the keys to the equipment room.’ I was like, ‘Okay, can I have those?’ and she was like, ‘Yeah but why? Do you need to go to the equipment room right now?’ And I said, “No, if I score, I’m going to take them out.”
And she proceeded to score her ninth goal of the season, and her 20th career game-winning goal, from 15 yards out off a deflection from an Oregon State defender.
“It’s the most special (goal I’ve ever scored) for sure,” Garbin said. “I mean, it gave me the record, came against our arch-rivals, and it’s the last time I’ll get to play in the Civil War.
“It feels great, but the ultimate goal for me is to get to the tournament, and winning tonight definitely helped our chances. It’ll take one more win. But I feel like we can battle with every team in the Pac-10 right now and probably upset every team”
Oregon State held the Ducks scoreless in the first half. Then, Beavers’ forward Jodie Taylor struck in the 52nd minute, curling a ball beyond the reach of Ducks’ goalkeeper Jessie Chatfield and into the top left corner of the goal from 13 yards out.
With 24 minutes left in regulation, Erickson decided a change of pace was in order. She took out a defender and put in a fifth midfielder in hopes that an extra pair of legs in the middle would help kickstart the Ducks’ attack.
“We were ready to go three in the back, we couldn’t just sit back and defend or settle for the tie, we knew we had to win this game in terms of the bigger picture,” Erickson said.
Erickson’s strategy worked almost instantly. A minute after the switch in formation, midfielder Allison Newton scored the equalizer for the Ducks. That was enough to force overtime and spark the offense into the most aggressive four minutes that it has played all year.
“I’ve never see our team press that much and be that attacking as we were in the overtime period,” Newton said. “I just had this feeling inside that we were gonna get a goal in.”
In overtime, the Ducks kept the ball confined in Oregon State’s 18-yard box and refused to let the Beavers clear it past the midfield line . Oregon had three shots on goal before Garbin finally found the back of the net.
“Even though it was bouncing around I knew that we were gonna finally find the goal and get something in. It was a little frustrating but I don’t think any of us doubted ourselves at any point. Because everyone just kept taking shots and we were all a part of it,” Newton said.
Garbin thinks the Ducks now need just one more win to secure a national tournament bid.
“(This game was) definitely a milestone,” Garbin said. “We feel like we’re in uncharted waters. We’re still the underdogs, but at the same time, we’re also the team to beat. It’s an amazing feeling.”
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