The Oregon soccer team takes its show on the road, but it’s hoping to change the channel.
This weekend the Ducks (4-13-1, 1-5-1 Pacific-10 Conference) will try to avoid the worst record of their five-year history when they take on No. 15 Stanford (11-5-0, 4-3-0) at 7 p.m. today in Palo Alto, Calif., and No. 8 California (15-2-0, 5-2-0) at 12:30 p.m. Sunday in Berkeley, Calif.
Oregon has had problems against Stanford and California in the pas, and is a combined 0-6 against the two teams.
But the Ducks have never been blown out in those games. In three losses to California, Oregon has been edged by one goal each time. The Ducks dropped one-goal games to each team last year in Eugene.
Oregon head coach Bill Steffen thinks his team can win this weekend’s games but will need to play with intensity for a full match to do so.
“We’re going to continue our process of trying to develop,” said Steffen. “We look forward to being competitive in these matches.”
The Ducks will have a few factors in their favor this weekend.
One of those factors is a healthy team. For the first time in their Pacific-10 Conference season, the Ducks will play their 11 best players, top to bottom. Starting goalkeeper Sarah Peters will return from a bruised hand she suffered against Washington State. Lindsey Peterson, a starting defensive back, will return to the lineup after missing three games with a sprained ankle.
The second factor is the Ducks’ finishing skills. After failing to score against UCLA and Southern California, Oregon rattled off four goals in its next three games against Oregon State, Washington State and Washington. The best result the Ducks could muster in those games was a tie with the Beavers, as the breaks didn’t go their way.
The final factor is that Oregon is experienced. Steffen’s scheduling — the Ducks have played seven top-25 teams this season — may finally pay off in the season’s final games.
“We’re trying to get these kids accommodated to the pressure of playing these teams match in and match out,” said Steffen.
If Oregon is accustomed to the pressure, they will need to use that experience to upset a ranked team for the first time this season.
The last time the Ducks beat a top-25 team was their 2-1 upset of No. 20 UCLA in Eugene last year. That win, which could have been the biggest in Oregon history, propelled the Ducks to their best-ever record last year.
This year, Oregon could end with its worst-ever record. In the team’s inaugural season in 1996, the Ducks went 5-11-2, 1-3-1 in the Pac-10. Since they started playing Pac-10 games against the entire conference in 1997, the Ducks have won at least two conference games each season.
“We’ve moved on,” said junior Chalise Baysa, the team’s leading scorer. “You can’t really dwell on the past.”
Oregon’s competition may have something to do with the decline in the Ducks’ win column. The Pac-10 has emerged as one of the best conferences in the nation with five teams in the top-25. The Atlantic Coast Conference has five teams currently in the top-25, while the Big 12 claims two.