The Bay Area schools of the Pacific-10 Conference come to Eugene this weekend to wrap up the women’s soccer regular season. Oregon (9-7-1 overall, 1-6 conference) has already clinched at least a .500 finish but, with a win or tie, can bid farewell to its six seniors with the program’s first winning season in school history.
Tonight at 5 p.m., No. 9 California (12-3-2 overall, 5-1-1 conference) takes the field against the Ducks hoping to gain ground on conference-leader UCLA. The No. 4 Bruins are slightly ahead of five teams all vying for at least a share of a Pacific-10 Conference title. Cal lost to UCLA last weekend and is in dire need of a win today to stay in the hunt.
First-year head coach Tara Erickson has guided Oregon to its second .500 finish in school history. Last Sunday, Oregon came close to netting their second conference win of the season against Washington State losing 1-0 in overtime. Although she is pleased with the progress her team has made this year, she would love to add a major upset of Cal to the Ducks’ resume.
“Our seniors are excited to be finishing .500, and although our loss at Pullman was difficult to take, we have moved on and can make up for it against Cal. We’re still taking things one game at a time,” Erickson said. “We have done even better than I anticipated. We haven’t won a lot of games lately, but we are moving forward and keeping a great attitude, and overall I’m really happy and proud with the way we’ve played.”
Leading the Ducks this weekend for the last time are co-captains Katie Abrahamson and Cristan Higa alongside fellow seniors Caitlin Gamble, Domenique Lainez, Valerie Mayer and Andrea Valadez. The captains have enjoyed their final season at Oregon but aren’t letting career-ending emotion set in early, both are focused for today’s game.
“I’m pumped for this game,” Abrahamson said. “It’s my last start, I want to get another win before graduation so we can be seen as the best team in school history.”
Abrahamson admires the play she has seen out of her fellow
classmen who have been leaders for Erickson’s squad.
“It’s been an awesome season,” Abrahamson said. “We have a lot of seniors so there is a lot of leadership, and any time you have a lot of seniors there’s plenty of heart on the team. We’ve all done our best at practice and in games.”
Higa’s final season at Oregon has been hampered by a knee injury she suffered Oct. 7 against Arizona. She is delighted with the progress the team has made since last season and would like her class to be the benchmark for future teams.
“We had some big wins early in the season and it’s been great,” Higa said. “I was disappointed with the injury but that’s the way things go sometimes. I’d like to see more winning seasons out of this program and hopefully our class will set a precedent for the future.”
Higa and Abrahamson are two of only 10 Ducks to have 70 career games under their belts. As a defender, Abrahamson has scored six points in 2005 and played a key role in Oregon’s 1-0 win over Washington last weekend. The West Linn native assisted Nicole Garbin, on the game’s only goal in the program’s first win over the Huskies. Higa has contributed on both offense and defense at midfield. She is tied for 10th all-time in school history with five assists in her career.
Gamble was hurt last Sunday and is questionable for today’s game.
The Ducks have their final match of the regular season Sunday at 1 p.m. against No. 24 Stanford. The Cardinal (8-6-3, 2-3-2) is one spot ahead of Oregon at eighth place in the conference.