Soccer notes
Sophomore forward Nicole Garbin knows the meaning of patience all too well.
Webster’s New World Dictionary describes it as “the capacity or habit of enduring adversity or pain with fortitude.”
Enduring the pain of an anterior cruciate ligament injury and the adversity of standing on the sideline are what Garbin has had to deal with since the night of Aug. 22.
It all happened that afternoon, during a normal day of practice when she turned wrong, and, in her words “it just snapped.”
Garbin’s injury has forced her to redshirt this season, and losing the team’s top returning scorer from 2001 hasn’t made things easy on the Ducks.
“It’s been difficult at times,” Garbin said. “I was just looking so forward to this season and playing with this freshman class.”
With 13 freshmen, the Ducks could use Garbin’s offensive presence and experience; especially now, as Oregon is off to a 1-10-2 start without a win in Pacific-10 Conference play.
Oregon sophomore Elise Minvielle (15) is one of the players making up for Nicole Garbin’s loss. Minvielle has started three games and taken four shots for the Ducks.
Last year, Garbin helped the Ducks to a 5-1-1 start and set a school record with four game-winning goals. The Wailuku, Hawaii native paced the team in assists with five and ranked second in goals with five.
“I’m learning that if I was in there then I feel like this whole season would be different,” Garbin said. “I feel like we wouldn’t be losing as many games. We wouldn’t be struggling emotionally as much as well as physically.”
Garbin has gone from being in the thick of the season to being an outsider looking in, and for her, it has been an eye-opening experience.
“I just keep learning each day of just how appreciative I have to be of being able to play, and that once I start playing again that I just have to give everything into it and not let down,” Garbin said.
Unfortunately for Garbin, she won’t be able to play competitively until next season for Oregon, as her injury will keep her on the sideline for the rest of this season.
As of now, the sophomore, who was voted the Female Prep Athlete of the Year by the Honolulu-Star Bulletin in high school, is trying to rebuild herself and start over with the basics.
Garbin has been limited to no more than kicking a ball, and can’t play competitively. She has been focusing on cardio workouts and building up the strength in her leg again.
Even though Garbin hasn’t been able to be there on the field for her team, she is on the sideline, always giving pointers and helping the newcomers. And whether or not things would change if she was playing, Garbin is still satisfied with her team’s efforts.
“I’m very impressed on the whole team’s effort — we have all the tools and we know what we have to do, it’s just that we don’t execute it,” Garbin said. “We have this saying this season of ‘never die easy’ and that’s what we’ve been doing, but unfortunately we come up short sometimes.”
Pac-10 notes
The Pac-10’s presence on the nation’s soccer scene is ever-increasing.
The Pac-10’s dominance is growing, as it has six teams represented in the top 20 of the Soccer America poll. California can take pride in the fact that four schools, — USC, UCLA, California and Stanford — are all in the top-15.
And with Stanford recently ranked second in the nation in athletics dominance by Sports Illustrated, the Cardinal women’s soccer team has done more than their part.
The Cardinals are now ranked No. 1 in the nation and have five straight shutouts, including their win over Oregon last weekend. Stanford improved to 13-1-0 overall and 4-0 in the conference.
Stanford is led by seniors Marcia Wallis and Callie Withers on offense and by sophomore Nicole Barnhart in goal. Barnhart was recently named Pac-10 Player of the Week after recording 12 saves against USC and UCLA.
Aside from the California schools, Arizona State and Washington have also found their places in the top-20. And with all six schools helping to lead the Pac-10 to the top, it is a tough conference to play in and an even tougher one to win in.
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