The Oregon women’s soccer team may have received the ultimate slap in the face last year, being left out of the NCAA Tournament despite a 12-6-2 record and a second-place finish in the Pacific-10 Conference, but it’s hard to argue that the program isn’t starting to gain some respect.
Only a year removed from being picked to finish last by the conference’s coaches, the Ducks were predicted to finish five places higher in 2007, as this year’s coaches’ poll had the Ducks finishing fifth.
The four Pac-10 teams selected for the NCAA Tournament last year were the four teams picked ahead of Oregon. UCLA received five first-place votes and 75 points, followed by Stanford (three first-place votes, 72 points), California (two first-place votes, 66 points) USC (58 points) and the Ducks (47 points).
The bottom five teams were Washington State (35), Arizona State (32), Arizona (29), Washington (27) and Oregon State (9).
Despite losing Pac-10 Player of the Year Nicole Garbin, the Ducks return a strong core of players, including second-leading scorer Allison Newton, record-setting goalkeeper Jessie Chatfield and 2006 All-Pac-10 Honorable Mention performers Danielle Sweeney and Dylann Tharp.
Oregon opens its season in Reno, Nev. on Aug. 31 against Nevada. Its first game at Papé Field is Sept. 7 against UC Riverside.