Preseason polls predicted that the Oregon women’s soccer team would finish last in the Pacific-10 Conference this year.
But after a successful 3-1 drubbing of the Huskies on Friday and a hard-fought 0-0 draw against Washington State in double overtime on Sunday, Oregon sits in first place in the Pac-10 for the first time in program history.
“(Being first in the Pac-10) feels amazing because no one expected it at the start of the season,” junior forward Tiffany Smith said. “We expected it. We knew we’d come out and do well. But no one else did. So to actually prove that and to win games, especially in the Pac-10, is pretty awesome.”
The Ducks dominated the Huskies for a full 90 minutes on Friday night in a game where it seemed as if everyone contributed something different to the offense.
Allison Newton, a defender, knocked in an unassisted goal to open the scoring in the 18th minute. Then, less than two minutes into the second half, Oregon struck again in a counter-attack that began at Oregon’s penalty box with a pass from midfielder Danielle Sweeney to forward Leigh Quinlan. Quinlan trapped the ball and then sent it to Nicole Garbin, who scored on a breakaway and extended the Ducks’ lead to two.
Oregon’s final goal came off Dani Oster’s pass to Smith, who curved the ball right and squeezed it in between the goalkeeper and the right post.
“I think having three different scorers and three different (assist-makers) shows that everyone has a part to play in our offense,” Smith said. “And it’s good to take that responsibility off Garbin, too because she scores all the goals, and defenders are always on her, so it’s good to have a variety of goals from a variety of people.”
Playing through a steady sheet of rain, the Ducks tried to find that same form against Washington State on Sunday, but never managed to capitalize on the opportunities they had.
Rianna Mansfield was back in the lineup after sitting out the Washington game with a concussion sustained in practice last week.
Playing an attacking midfield role, Mansfield combined with Smith and Garbin to circulate the ball around the offensive end of the field. The triumvirate accounted for eight of the Ducks 14 total shots.
With the score still at 0-0 at the end of 90 minutes, the game went into overtime.
Garbin’s best opportunity in the first overtime period came with 25 seconds remaining, when she booted one over the Washington State goal’s crossbar. In the second overtime period, Mansfield hammered a shot that went inches wide of the left post, and the game ended on a weak shot from Smith, taken at an awkward angle that Cougars’ goalkeeper Brynn Bemis stopped easily.
“I thought we had some momentum going into the overtime periods, but I felt we needed to be more opportunistic and take more shots on goal,” Oregon coach Tara Erickson said. “The only way to score is to shoot. And we’re still not dangerous enough from outside, so teams know that, and so they get to drop a little bit and provide more cover on Garbin or anyone else with speed. I just wish someone would step up and just hack one.”
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