Soccer

The Oregon women’s soccer team will play host to Portland State at Papé Field tonight in its final weekend of non-conference play.
The Ducks will then travel to No. 5 Portland on Sunday to face off against another top-10 opponent. This will be Oregon’s fifth top-10 opponent and sixth top-25 opponent this season.
Oregon is coming off a 3-0 loss to No.1-ranked North Carolina after a valiant fight at Papé Field last Sunday in front of a record crowd.
In 2001, the Ducks and Vikings went head-to-head, with Oregon victorious at 4-2. The Ducks’ only loss to the Vikings was in Oregon’s inaugural season of 1996, and Oregon leads the series at 2-1-1 overall.
The series against Portland is not so favorable for the Ducks. Portland has won each game in the past four seasons since 1998, outscoring Oregon 9-0 overall in Portland and Eugene.
No current Ducks have scored against Portland State or Portland.
Portland State (6-2-3) enters tonight’s match with strong momentum after winning three in a row, including home wins last weekend over Wyoming, 1-0, and Air Force, 2-0.
Sophomore midfielder Katie Miyake leads the Vikings in points with 16, followed by sophomore midfielder Julie Forrest at 15 points.
Portland had a rough beginning to its season, with losses to BYU and Utah, but it has since gone 8-0-1. Recently, the Pilots tied then-No.1-ranked North Carolina 0-0 last Saturday and took another win Sunday in Corvallis, 2-1.
Sophomore Christine Sinclair, last year’s Soccer America National Freshman of the Year, paces the Pilots this season in points (18), shots (41) and shots on goal (20).
For the Vikings, goalkeeper Joell Giger has a 0.94 goals-against-average with 41 saves and 3.5 shutouts. The Pilots’ goalkeeper Lauren Arase has four shutouts in just six games with a 0.48 GAA and 20 saves.
Oregon currently stands at 1-5-1 after last weekend’s loss to North Carolina and will begin conference play after the matches with the Vikings and Pilots.
“It has taken us some time to get to know how to play with each other,” Oregon senior Amanda Orand said. “It’s about finding our strengths and using them to our advantage.”
The Ducks’ team is still hindered by injuries; Oregon lost three key players in the first month of play. Sophomore Nicole Garbin is out for the season after leading the Ducks last year in assists.
Backup keeper Domenique Lainez will miss 4-5 weeks from a right ankle sprain and freshman forward Andrea Valadez suffered a right knee sprain and is out 4-5 weeks.
The Ducks did receive a new asset this season, which turned out more helpful than anticipated with Lainez being injured.
Redshirt junior and track-and-field standout Mary Etter walked on to the team in early fall practice and now backs up senior goalkeeper Sarah Peters.
Etter saw action against Wisconsin-Green Bay two weeks ago for the first time, when she played 32 minutes, recording one save.
Oregon didn’t get off to the best start this season and will have its work cut out against Portland and Portland State, but the Ducks are confident they will improve.
“We have to keep moving on up. It’s a continuous ladder,” Peters said.