When Nicole Garbin steps onto the soccer field, good things happen.
That’s why the Oregon freshman was Hawaii’s player of the year her senior season at Baldwin High in Wailuku. That’s why she has already made an impact as the Ducks’ biggest offensive threat of the young 2001 season.
“She’s a nice spark,” Oregon head coach Bill Steffen said of his young phenom, who has already tied the school record with her third game-winning goal of the year.
Garbin was a force in the Ducks’ two wins last week, Oregon’s first two contests since the cancellation of a tournament in Tennessee. Garbin netted her second and third game-winning goals of the season — and her second, third and fourth goals overall — in the two games. The freshman helped the Ducks beat San Jose State 5-2 Wednesday and Nevada 2-1 Sunday.
Sunday’s home win over the Wolfpack moved the Ducks’ season record to 3-1-1. The hard-fought contest epitomized Oregon’s newfound resolve to out-hustle and over-muscle their opponents, according to veteran midfielder Chalise Baysa.
“As a team, we’re trying to step it up and become more aggressive,” Baysa said.
The Ducks certainly started off Sunday’s contest more aggressively than the Wolfpack. Baysa and the rest of the offensive players continually applied pressure on the anemic Nevada defense, and outshot the Wolfpack 10-4 in the first half. The Wolfpack did not touch the ball in Oregon’s 18-yard box until 35 minutes into the game, although Nevada players took long-range shots before that mark.
As a reward for their efforts, the Ducks struck first in the game, on senior Beth Bowler’s rocket shot from the corner of the 18-yard box. The shot, which came after a tricky pass from Garbin, easily beat Nevada’s Jessica Gregg and gave Oregon a 1-0 lead with seven minutes left in the first half.
But Nevada controlled the pace to start the second half, and Wolfpack freshman Amy Jackson scored with 37 minutes left in the game. The goal, which was only Nevada’s second in seven games this season, came after another player’s shot deflected off the crossbar above Oregon goalkeeper Sarah Peters.
“We didn’t work on playing well and playing better as the match went on,” Steffen said.
Oregon had several chances after Nevada’s goal, but it was Garbin who found the back of the net first. With 19 minutes left to play, Oregon senior defender Angela Romero took a free kick from 30 yards out, which Bowler deflected to a streaking Garbin, who squeezed the game-winning shot under Gregg.
Despite netting the game winner, Garbin said the Ducks were still disappointed with their effort.
“We knew that their level was going to be slow,” Garbin said. “I don’t think we played our game.”
“I’m happy we won,” Baysa said. “But I’m not happy with how we played.”
The win Sunday came on the heels of Oregon’s 5-2 victory at San Jose State last week. Garbin scored twice in the contest, after goals from senior midfielder Annie Murphy and Baysa. Sophomore defender Lindsey Werdell ended the scoring with her first goal in an Oregon uniform.
The Ducks beat the Spartans by the same score in Eugene last season, in Oregon’s regular-season opener.
In both contests last week, the Ducks continued their run as the most penalized team in their conference. Oregon received two yellow cards Sunday, moving the team’s season total to 11 yellow cards. The nearest Pacific-10 Conference team, Stanford, had two yellow cards at the beginning of last week.
The Ducks’ games against San Jose State and Nevada were make-ups scheduled in place of the Tennessee tournament, which was canceled because of the terrorist attacks on the East Coast. Oregon would have played Vanderbilt and Tennessee in that tournament.
The Ducks return to regularly-scheduled action against San Diego Friday at 3 p.m., in the second of seven-straight home games.
Peter Hockaday is the assistant sports editor for the Oregon Daily Emerald. He can be reached at [email protected].