This weekend belonged to Chalise Baysa.
Oregon soccer’s new all-time scoring leader put up a goal against Arizona State on Friday and a pair against Arizona on Sunday, as the Ducks split their first two Pacific-10 Conference matchups.
Baysa scored her first goal of the weekend 73 seconds into Friday’s match against Arizona State. That score held up for more than 80 minutes, until Arizona State’s Haley van Blommestein scored her first goal of the year with eight minutes left in the game. Six minutes later, the Sun Devils’ Antionette Marjanovic rocketed a shot past Oregon goalkeeper Sarah Peters to put her team ahead for good.
“That game could have gone either way,” Baysa said. “It would have been better if we had swept this weekend, but we’re happy with a split.”
On Sunday, it took Baysa only 29 minutes to score as she took advantage of an Arizona mistake to put an Ann Westermarkcross into the back of the net. Mary Cascio also played a roll in foiling a defender as she tipped Westermark’s cross to Baysa. Baysa scored the game-winning goal with only 16 seconds left after eluding three Arizona defenders in the 18-yard box and slipping the ball past Arizona goalkeeper Shannon Monti. The shutout was the Ducks’ first of the year.
“We got rewarded for our efforts today,” Oregon coach Bill Steffen said on Sunday. “We got a little unlucky Friday, but that happens.”
Baysa’s 22nd career goal on Sunday was enough to move her past Erin Anderson as Oregon’s all-time leading goal-scorer. Baysa is now four points behind Anderson for the all-time lead in points scored.
“It feels good,” said Baysa, about knocking down the Ducks’ records. “But I’m more excited about the win. Hopefully we’ll just keep getting better after that.”
Baysa’s goals couldn’t have come at a better time for the Ducks. Three of Oregon’s key offensive players sat on the sidelines Sunday, and could only watch the junior’s offensive display. Forward Beth Bowler missed the weekend’s games with a sprained left ankle, Crystal David was out with a knee injury and sophomore Julie McLellan missed Sunday’s matchup due to the flu.
With all of those offensive threats out of Oregon’s lineup, Baysa and her supporting cast had to step up the offensive heat on Arizona. With help from Westermark, Cascio, senior Allyssa White and junior Molly Stemp, Baysa and the Ducks were able to fill the void left by David, Bowler and McLellan. Cascio and Westermark had assists on Baysa’s first goal, while Stemp assisted on her second.
The Ducks played everyone who was suited for Sunday’s game.
“We played everybody we could,” Steffen said. “And that’s a great testimony to the depth of this team.”
“Our offense stepped up a lot,” Baysa said. “But it started with our defense. It was a team effort.”
The defense let Arizona get only 15 shots, and only seven of those were on goal. The defense shut down one of Arizona’s leading scorers, freshman Liz Bartlett, who had only two shot attempts. Arizona’s other leading scorer, speedy junior Kristi Lorona, had five shots on the afternoon.
“We played with all our heart and all our emotion,” Peters said.
The defense also shut down Arizona State’s All-American junior, Stacey Tullock, on Friday. Tullock didn’t start the game because of the flu, but when she came in, the nation’s 13th-ranked scorer took booming shot after booming shot — all of which missed the Oregon net. Oregon’s defense gave her few shots inside the 18-yard box.
The Ducks will take on USC and UCLA in Los Angeles next weekend and then return home Oct. 20 to battle Oregon State.