Soccer
It went all the way until the end with neither team letting up or
giving in.
The Oregon women’s soccer team played a solid match for 110 minutes against the Washington State Cougars on Sunday afternoon at Papé Field.
The game ended in a 1-1 tie in double overtime. The Ducks moved to 1-8-2 overall and 0-1-1 in Pacific-10 Conference action.
Oregon started Sunday’s match strong, but the Cougars struck first when junior midfielder Rachel Rodrick fired a low line-drive shot from 20 yards out on the right side 20 minutes into the contest.
It appeared Oregon goalkeeper Sarah Peters would get the save, but it slipped through her legs before she could stop it.
The next 20 minutes featured a back-and-forth battle of shot attempts and intense defense. Oregon didn’t stay off the scoreboard long.
With five minutes left in the first half, senior forward Amanda Orand lobbed the ball to freshman Mele French on the right side where French capitalized with a chip over the Washington State goalkeeper’s reach.
“We worked hard but we didn’t work effectively,” head coach Bill Steffen said. “All around, the effort can be applauded.”
Through 45 minutes, Washington State led the Ducks in shots-on-goal at 4-1 and corner-kicks 4-0.
Oregon had close opportunities to score at the beginning of the second half but couldn’t convert.
The Cougars found their offensive glory again after 60 minutes of play when they began firing shots on Oregon’s defense. But Washington State could not capitalize on their opportunities in the second half, and the game went into overtime.
Peters earned six saves for Oregon on Sunday and the rest of the Ducks were solid in earning two team saves.
“Everyone battled really hard — it was a battle to the end,” freshman defender Carlie Ashcraft said. “We are okay with the result, but we should have won.”
The Cougars dominated the majority of both overtimes, but Oregon’s defense stood tall. The Ducks also had opportunities, but in the end, neither team could finish it.
“We didn’t play as well as I thought we did on Friday,” French said. “We just need to learn how to put it away and finish it.”
Oregon had a double dip with the Washington schools this weekend, as they faced off against the Huskies on Friday night in the Pac-10 conference opener for both squads.
The Ducks were forced to play most of the game one player down, but they still put forth one of their best efforts this season before falling to the Huskies 2-1.
Forward Arlene Tuttle was ejected 30 minutes into the contest Friday. The sophomore earned her second yellow card after a run-in with a Washington player. Tuttle received her initial foul just 10 minutes before that, when she collided with another Husky.
Oregon scored its only goal when junior midfielder Lindsey Werdell drove a penalty kick into the upper right corner 27 minutes into play. That score tied the game at 1-1.
No. 19 Washington scored just 18 minutes into play on a grounder by sophomore forward Tina Frimpong. Frimpong went on to score the game’s final goal in the 75th minute from 17 yards out.
“We came up short, but we’re making progress as a team,” Steffen said. “(The player disadvantage) didn’t affect us as much in our ball possession but more made it easier on them. Their attitude has been impressive, especially when others would have packed it in.”