Pape Field played host to international competition Tuesday night.
The Oregon women’s soccer team scrimmaged with the Canadian under-19 National Team as the Ducks fielded next year’s squad in competition for the first time.
As the day faded into night, the bright lights of Papé Field shone on only one team; the Canadians easily won, 7-0.
The Canadian team dominated from the beginning and had nine corner-kicks on the night. But playing against an accomplished squad that has played in the under-19 World Cup, Oregon had quite a mountain to climb.
“It’s the first time out for us, and again, this is against their national team — very accomplished players,” Oregon head coach Bill Steffen said. “It was a first run-through for us, and we are more focused on the development of the players rather than the result.”
Team Canada had it all together from the start and took the lead off of the first goal by Kathleen Johnstone. Less than 10 minutes later, Kara Lang connected on a goal for Canada, shortly after Oregon junior Lindsey Werdell received a yellow card.
Then Canada’s Caroline Vaillancourt converted off a header, and Katie Thorlakson also scored for Team Canada before the first half ended. Oregon’s defense got much more attention than the offense, but the Ducks did have two corner-kicks.
The second half proved no better for Oregon, as Lang scored again with a bullet to the back of the net to give Team Canada a 5-0 lead. Approaching the end, it was all Leigh Quinlan for the Canadians as she scored the team’s final two goals.
Oregon did have the opportunity to give every player a chance to take the field, and sophomore Domenique Lainez also had her first opportunity as a goalkeeper since the 2001 season.
The Ducks clearly struggled in their first outing, even though they were a national-caliber team. And Steffen said that there were a few positives but work still needs to be done before the spring.
“We got better as the match went on,” Steffen said. “The first time out the speed of play is always a concern. At times, our choices were a little bit panicky, and we made some choices that put us back under pressure — but that is part of doing this.”
The Canadian team will be training in Eugene through the weekend and will play Washington on Thursday at 4 p.m. on Papé Field. Team Canada will also host Washington State on Saturday at 3 p.m.