The disappointment and shock of missing the NCAA Tournament left Nicole Garbin and her teammates on the Oregon soccer team heartbroken.
Thursday they received validation for their efforts when Pac-10 Conference commissioner Tom Hansen announced Garbin as the Pac-10 Player of the Year and Tara Erickson as the Pac-10 Coach of the Year.
“It was a thought in my mind that there was a possibility that I could receive that award, but I was really shocked when I got the phone call from Tara that I was the Pac-10 Player of the Year,” said Garbin, who earned a record three Pac-10 Player of the Week awards.
The pair emphasized the community’s impact in the last few days through e-mails, letters and phone calls.
“I check my e-mails and there’s always something new in there,” Garbin said. “It’s from someone I don’t even know, but they’ve been watching my career here and they just feel really honored to have been able to see me play.”
Athletic director Bill Moos and Erickson have made many phone calls this week trying to find an explanation for Oregon’s exclusion from the NCAA Tournament with little success.
“Just some generic responses I think a little bit and that’s been disappointing for me personally, just that so I didn’t have anything to tell the players – here is this game or this moment or this goal or what you did or did not do,” Erickson said.
Erickson made it clear to her team she would not have changed anything about their season: How they played or the non-conference schedule. Oregon started the season with three straight losses against Long Beach State, UC Riverside and Loyola Marymount University.
“We lost some of those earlier games to some of our opponents, but we learned from those games and that was kind of what built us in to the team that we are,” Erickson said.
Now that the soccer season is over, Garbin’s focus immediately shifts to the women’s basketball team.
Garbin joined the team Wednesday and this gives the sixth-year senior a chance to pursue another sport she’s passionate about. Garbin earned Maui League Player of the Year honors playing basketball in high school.
“Soccer girls are going to get really mad for me saying this, but it’s my first love,” Garbin said of basketball. “I’ve been playing it since I was little. I had expectations coming to college to play basketball as well as soccer and that kind of happened my freshman year. I redshirted here, but things didn’t work out. It’s great to have this opportunity again. I feel like I’m ready to take it.”
Women’s basketball attendance is gaining an influx of new fans with soccer teammates and parents expected to watch games and cheer Garbin on.
“Garbin is one of the reasons that my heart was breaking and that I was so upset on Monday,” Erickson said. “I think for her to have the chance to go and put on an Oregon uniform is exciting.”
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