The Oregon women’s soccer team (8-5-1 overall, 0-3-0 Pacific-10 Conference) will hit the road to take on two of the top caliber teams in the nation this weekend, as they face No. 4 UCLA tonight and No. 14 USC on Sunday.
The Bruins (12-2-1, 3-1) are led by sophomore forward Sydney Leroux who has scored 12 goals in the 14 games she’s played, along with five game-winners. Senior forwards Kristina Larsen and Lauren Cheney have also provided potent offensive threats for UCLA as they’ve each recorded three assists with eight and seven goals, respectively.
UCLA leads the all-time series 10-2 with its last loss to the Ducks coming in 2006, which was a 2-1 double overtime finish in Eugene.
Prior to the Bruins’ loss against the top-ranked Stanford Cardinal last Sunday, UCLA had put together a streak of 12 straight wins including victories over No. 11 Illinois, No. 6 Florida, No. 20 Arizona State and No. 17 California. And of those 12 wins, eight were shutouts credited to redshirt sophomore goalkeeper Chante’ Sandiford.
But the USC Trojans (11-4-0, 3-1-0 Pac-10) feature the Pac-10’s top goalkeeper in senior Kristin Olsen. Olsen entered the season as the Trojans’ career leader with a 0.55 goals-against average, and she has recorded 71 saves through 14 games (5.07 per game).
Offensively, USC features a handful of weapons as nine different players have found the back of the net, and the teams leading scorer, junior Alyssa Davila, has recorded eight goals, four assists, and 20 points, while coming off the bench in all but one game this year.
The Ducks on the other hand have had some trouble offensively throughout early Pac-10 play, recording only two goals in three games and three in their last five matches. Oregon will likely see the second consecutive start out of redshirt senior goalkeeper Jessie Proulx after she made her season debut last weekend at Oregon State. Prior to her season-ending knee injury last summer, Proulx was touted as one of the top goalkeepers in the Pac-10 and these two matchups will show just where she fits in now that she is healthy.
Match time tonight is 7 p.m. at UCLA’s Drake Stadium, while Sunday’s match will be held at 1 p.m. at USC’s McAlister Field.
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No relief ahead for struggling Ducks
Daily Emerald
October 22, 2009
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