The Oregon soccer team knows what it’s like to compete against premier teams. The Ducks have taken on North Carolina, Duke and Santa Clara — all Top-25 teams– in the past few weeks.
The question that Oregon head coach Bill Steffen is asking is this: Will the Ducks need more than experience to beat No. 21 Florida State at 1 p.m. Sunday on Papé Field?
“We know the level,” Steffen said. “But we’re home. We love to play at home. It’s more comfortable for the kids.”
So yes, the Ducks will need more than experience. They’ll need the Papé Field advantage.
Papé Field doesn’t have the fabled win streak of Autzen Stadium, the rock-and-roll atmosphere of McArthur Court or the hallowed tradition of Hayward Field, but it’s home all the same.
In fact, the Ducks have won two of their three games at home this season, and have a 5-6 record in Eugene over the past two seasons. But perhaps the most important win in Oregon history came on Papé Field — last year’s almost scary 2-1 decision over UCLA on Halloween.
The Ducks will use a new-found confidence to take on Florida State, with coach Steffen hoping that confidence will blend with the home-field advantage and the Ducks’ experience to create the perfect victory mix.
“There were a lot of reasons for us to quit,” Steffen said about his team’s come-from-behind victory over James Madison last Sunday. “The fact that we stayed with it and we maintained and actually raised our level of play after giving up the goals, I think that shows we’re battle tested.”

On the field, junior Starr Johnson anchors a tough defense, while sophomore Sarah Peters will start at goalkeeper. Forward Crystal David, the junior transfer from the University of San Francisco, joins junior midfielder Chalise Baysa as the Ducks’ main offensive threats. Allyssa White, who scored the game-winner against James Madison, and Beth Bowler, who has taken the most shots for Oregon this year, provide depth up front.
Johnson thinks the defense could be the most important part of the Duck attack.
“The less we’re on defense, the less stress we have,” the Hawaii-native said. “When the offense has the ball and controls the ball, it means the less we have to do to keep the ball out of our defensive third.”
That theory helped the Ducks win against James Madison. The Ducks took more shots, more corner kicks and less fouls than James Madison after the Dukes’ first two goals. Oregon also finished its scoring chances, which Steffen has pointed to as a problem area for the Ducks.
“When you haven’t scored in awhile you start to feel snakebit, like you just can’t score,” Steffen said. “The first score is always the hardest. Once we got that one I felt better, and then we converted on two more chances after that.”
Oregon went five games without scoring before Annie Murphy’s goal in a 3-1 loss to Xavier on Sept. 22. The Ducks took 40 shots in that five-game span. The floodgates opened against James Madison, though, as the Ducks received goals from leading scorers Baysa and David before White’s rebound shot with just over two minutes left in the game. In less than 70 minutes, Oregon scored more goals than it had in its previous seven games.
“We broke the ice,” Steffen said.
The Ducks can only hope the ice doesn’t freeze back in Sunday’s game against Florida State.