For the Oregon soccer team, there is no preseason or postseason right now. There’s only pre-October and post-October.
This month, the Ducks have already stood up to No. 21 Florida State and lost in their last preseason game, but now they start a second season of sorts.
The Pacific-10 Conference season.
Oregon opens up Pac-10 play this weekend at Papé Field against Arizona State and Arizona, two Pac-10 foes that stymied the Ducks last year. Arizona State beat the Ducks 2-1 last year in Tucson, while the Wildcats played Oregon to a tie in double overtime.
“It’s important for us to get off to a good start,” Oregon head coach Bill Steffen said.
The Ducks will start the season against Arizona State on Friday, and the Sun Devils should make that good start Steffen speaks of more difficult than he hopes. Arizona State has scored 32 goals and given up seven goals in 10 games this year, which has led to its impressive 9-1-0 record.
Many of the Sun Devils’ goals have come from All-American candidate Stacey Tullock, last year’s Pac-10 Player of the Year. Tullock has 10 goals this year, making her the eighth most effective goal-scorer in the country with 1.11 goals per game.
“A lot of what they do flows through [Tullock],” Steffen said. “We will, first and foremost, try to contain her.”
But one Arizona State team member has even more points than Tullock. Freshman Patrice Feulner has 26 points on the season, which makes her the 13th-highest point-scorer in the country.
Meanwhile, Arizona comes into Sunday’s match against Oregon with almost the same record as the Ducks. The Wildcats have lost heartbreaking overtime matches against Pittsburgh, Utah and Loyola Marymount. Arizona is 3-6-1 on the season, with two of their three wins coming in overtime.
“We need to win the games we can,” junior Chalise Baysa said. “And hope to take a few from the bigger teams.”
On the surface, it would appear that Friday’s game against Arizona is a “hope to win” game, and Sunday’s against Arizona is a “can win.”
Steffen said he is working on the Ducks’ mental edge going into Pac-10 play, which he feels the team has been lacking.
“We’re trying to be better on the mental details,” Steffen said. “We need a good physical effort and a good mental effort as well.”
Steffen pointed to the Ducks’ recent inability to convert on legitimate scoring chances.
“We’re good at creating chances, but then we seem to lose our focus,” he said. “I think a lot of that deals with the mental aspects of the game.”
The Ducks have been outscored 29-5 in their last nine games, and 27-2 in their eight losses after outscoring San Jose State and Idaho 9-4 in their first two games. That nine-game streak has included six shutouts.
“We expect every game to be tough,” Steffen said about the Pac-10 road ahead. “We have to prepare for each game as if it’s going to be the toughest game of the season.”
He left out the words “toughest weekend.” This weekend could fit that bill if the Ducks don’t start off on the right foot.