Grandma’s injured, but she’s determined to play anyway.
Nicole Garbin, the Oregon women’s soccer team’s 24-year-old star forward who is in her sixth year with the team, says she’s fielded cracks about her age from every team the Ducks have played this season. The NCAA granted Garbin a sixth year of eligibility at the beginning of the season because she sat out the 2002 and 2004 seasons with knee injuries.
The list of trash-talking opponents so far includes winless Idaho, a 0-12 team.
Right before the Ducks played Idaho, one of the Vandals made a snide comment about Grandma Garbin, which a teammate pointed out while they sat by the sidelines watching the team practice on Wednesday.
You’d think the opposition would talk smack about someone other than the team’s best player.
“Yeah,” Garbin said, “I was like, ‘Oh, grandma’s gonna kill you.’”
Garbin proceeded to shut up her defender when she scored in the Ducks’ Sept. 24 home victory.
At the moment though, Garbin’s not running so well. She strained her right calf muscle against Portland State last weekend.
“At Portland State we played on a crappy field, really old turf,” Garbin said. “And it felt like it was cement with a rug rolled out on it. It was horrible. My calf was really tight after that game. And my knees, my tendentious flared up for a bit there, too.”
But she insisted on playing against Portland two days later. Subsequently, she suffered a groin strain sometime between that game and Monday’s practice.
Regardless of whether she’s at full fitness, Garbin is determined to play when the Ducks (6-5 overall) head to Arizona this weekend to kick off their Pacific-10 Conference season.
“I should be fine to play this weekend,” she said. “But if not, there are definitely things that you can play through. And I will definitely play through.”
The team definitely needs her services.
The Ducks lost 4-2 to Arizona and 3-0 to Arizona State last year.
This season, Arizona (7-4 overall) is fifth in the Pac-10 and ranked No. 24 in the nation. Arizona State (5-3-2 overall) has a solid defense that is ranked third in the Pac-10, allowing only six goals in 10 games.
Still, Oregon coach Tara Erickson is optimistic for this weekend.
“I feel like the difference this year is that we’re a little more (seasoned),” Erickson said. “Even though we have a few freshmen taking the field for us against the Pac-10 teams this year, they’ve played very well for us against some really tough competition during the preseason.
“Last year, all of our freshmen were simply awestruck when we hit the Pac-10,” Erickson said. “We hadn’t played as tough a schedule, and we weren’t able to compete against a team like Portland. In that game, we just kind of went out and took the field against them, and they pretty much just took it to us.”
In comparison to the 6-0 drubbing the Ducks suffered at the hands of the Pilots last year, Erickson considers last week’s 3-0 defeat at Portland an improvement. Portland also defeated Arizona 2-0 on Sept. 22.
Scoring multiple goals has been a problem for the Ducks. Oregon has not won by more than two goals in any game this season.
“I think even when we do score, one of our problems is thinking that it’s good enough to just get one goal,” junior forward Tiffany Smith said. “That’s been a challenge for us recently – trying to keep the offense threatening. One goal is not a lot. Anything can happen.”
While Smith has netted two game-winning goals this season, much of Oregon’s firepower comes from Garbin. Garbin has scored four of the team’s 11 goals, and she’s the person the Ducks look to when they need to get out of trouble.
“I feel the pressure to score in every game,” Garbin said. “And my coaches let me know about it, too. But I do need that pressure in order to even have fun playing out there. I want to be the one relied on to get the team the winner or the game-winning assist. I want to make an impact on the game. I love that part.”
To secure victories against the Wildcats and the Sun Devils this weekend, the Ducks need both Garbin’s goal-scoring capabilities and some solid defensive play.
“I do think that right now, we’re a more defensively oriented team, but I’d like for us to become more of an attacking force as well,” Erickson said. “I’m really proud of how our defense has played. But I wouldn’t say it’s just our defenders doing it. I’d say the whole team is defending very well. Much better than we have in the past.”
The Ducks have to watch out for Arizona’s Gianna DeSaverio. The sophomore forward leads the Wildcats with five goals and three assists, and has scored or assisted on seven out of the team’s 15 goals. She made a lasting impression on Oregon goalkeeper Jessie Chatfield when the Ducks played the Wildcats last year.
“What I remember from playing U of A last year is that they had a left outside player (DeSaverio) who was really fast,” Chatfield said. “If one of our defenders took a wrong step or hesitated for a moment, she was just gone.
“Both Arizona and Arizona State are really aggressive teams and they play fast. So it’s important for us to stay organized and attack as a team and defend as a team.”
Oregon takes on Arizona at 7 p.m. tonight, and will face Arizona State at 1 p.m. on Sunday.
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