One rivalry down.
Two to go.
Off the momentum of a 4-3 overtime victory against Oregon State, Oregon heads north to face Northwest rivals No. 10 Washington (7-3-3 overall, 0-1-1 Pacific-10 Conference) and Washington State (4-8, 0-2) this weekend.
Oregon (7-5, 1-0) is on a two-game winning streak and will look for its eighth win this weekend. Another win would tie the most all-time wins in a season in Oregon soccer history, after the Ducks finished 8-8-2 in 2001.
“Coming off of last weekend, I think we have a good vibe going,” forward Cristan Higa said. “This is a very important weekend to reach our main goal, which is to get to the (NCAA) tournament. We’re ready, we’re prepared and I think we’ll play well this weekend.”
Oregon has never beat Washington. With a series record of 0-6-1, Oregon managed a 1-1 tie in 2001 in double overtime in Seattle.
“It’s always a motivating factor,” Oregon head coach Bill Steffen said. “For some reason we seem to have very competitive games with them. Part of that is a regional thing. The players look forward to it because they know it’s going to be a good game.
“I’m expecting us to be very competitive as usual with them, but hopefully come out on the good side.”
Before facing the Huskies on Sunday, Oregon makes a stop in Pullman tonight. Washington State is at the bottom of the Pac-10 and is seeking its first conference win after losses to UCLA and USC.
Of the Cougars’ four wins, three have been shutouts in Pullman. Oregon shut out Washington State 4-0 on the road in 2001, and the teams tied 1-1 at Papé Field last year.
“Washington State last year did pretty well,” senior Lindsey Werdell said. “They got a new coach and they haven’t been scoring. If we can stick a goal in, I’m pretty confident we can stop them from scoring.”
The Cougars are led by first-year coach Matt Potter, a former Washington State assistant. The Cougars have lost four of their last five and scored only once in those contests.
In the Washington game, the Ducks will have to face junior forward Tina Frimpong. Frimpong led the Washington offense in last year’s 2-1 win over the Ducks by scoring both goals and has scored nine times this year. The Ducks know they must contain her to have a chance.
“She’s really fast,” Werdell said. “She’s just a nightmare to defend. The only way that you can really defend against her is team defense. She’s always the focus of our defense.”
The focus of Oregon’s offense will be to score — and score early. After a five-game skid earlier this season where Oregon went scoreless, the Ducks have scored seven goals in the past two games.
Scoring this weekend won’t be an easy task. Washington goalkeeper Lisa Brookens has 34 saves and five shutouts this season with a .60 goals-against average. Washington State goalkeeper Katie Hultin is just as comparable with 37 saves, four shutouts and a .84 GAA.
Steffen doesn’t seem worried.
“When we’re on, we’ll score against anybody,” he said. “So it’s a matter of making sure we’re on for the remaining games. We’ve been pretty good about creating chances, we just haven’t been as good at finishing the chances.”
Neither Washington school has won its first conference game, so the Ducks are the target. However, Oregon traditionally plays better on the road, evidenced by a 2-1 record in the Palouse.
“With our momentum, it’s a good weekend to go into the Washington schools,” Higa said.