This weekend could be very kind to the Oregon soccer team.
While the Pacific-10 Conference’s top programs battle it out on other fields, the Ducks get to return home and face Oregon State, a team that has been an automatic “W” on Oregon’s schedule for four years.
But that doesn’t mean the Ducks are overlooking the Beavers.
“It’s intense, but in a different manner,” Oregon head coach Bill Steffen said.
The Ducks (4-11-0, 1-3-0 Pac-10) will take on Oregon State (6-9-1, 0-3-1) at Papé Field today at 3 p.m. Oregon has beaten the Beavers in the teams’ last four meetings, and the Ducks have outscored Oregon State 12-2 over that stretch.
Oregon’s one Pac-10 win this season came on Papé Field, a 3-0 victory over Arizona two weeks ago.
Last week the Ducks were roughed up in Los Angeles, losing to No. 13 Southern California, 3-0, and No. 7 UCLA, 8-0. Oregon State fared nearly as poorly against those schools, losing 3-0 to UCLA and 5-2 to the Trojans.
Oregon State is one of two teams in the Pac-10 — Arizona being the other — with a worse record than Oregon. The Beavers have gone six games without a win, although they did tie Arizona 1-1 in Corvallis. Oregon State’s last win came Sept. 26th against Portland State.
The Ducks could be the beneficiaries of a Pac-10 mix-up this week if they can beat the Beavers. No. 3 Washington will take on the ranked Los Angeles schools, while No. 20 Stanford and No. 8 California will take on Arizona and Arizona State. When the dust clears, Oregon could find themselves back in the thick of the Pac-10 race.
That’s just what Steffen and his team want.
“Obviously we want to win as many as we can,” Steffen said about the rest of the Ducks’ Pac-10 schedule.
“We just want to prove to the Pac-10 that we can win these games,” sophomore forward Julie McLellan said.
Steffen hopes his team will just play good soccer against its in-state rival.
“Our hopes are to play with a little more consistency,” Steffen said. “We created great chances against ASU; we created great chances against Arizona; we created good chances against USC. We’ve got to put them away.”
Steffen hopes forwards Beth Bowler and Crystal David will return to the Ducks’ lineup today and help the team finish those chances.