It was the research that did it for the Oregon soccer team.
Forwards Andrea Valadez and Mele French spent all week watching European game films, studying what it took to properly finish a play.
In the 81st minute of Sunday’s game against Weber State, French was set up on the run by midfielder Valerie Mayer and delivered a 12-yard pass to Valadez, who capitalized to give Oregon the game-winning goal in a 3-2 victory at Papé Field.
“The combination we put together for my goal was exactly what we saw out of the videos, and it was great,” Valadez said. “It was totally a textbook shot.
“Mele, me, Sabrina (DeMonte) and Christine (Mintz) — we all watch, and Domenique (Lainez) sometimes. We just sit down and watch the goals because if you visualize things they happen more often.”
Oregon (6-5) got its first win after five straight shutouts, including a 1-0 loss on Friday to defending national champion Portland at Papé Field.
“We’re happy with the result,” Oregon head coach Bill Steffen said. “We need to be a bit more efficient in our chances. I thought we created some real good chances, and we didn’t put them away.”
The Ducks entered Sunday’s game poised and appeared determined on offense. However, even with nine shots and three shots on goal in the first 45 minutes, Oregon continued to struggle to find the back of the net.
Weber State (2-7-2) was able to capitalize in the 38th minute of the first half when midfielder Anna Neisen snuck one past Lainez amid a crowd of people around the goal.
In the second half, Oregon came alive. Redshirt sophomore Nicole Garbin sacrificed her body to jump-start the Oregon offense.
While going for the ball, Garbin was involved in a collision, causing a personal foul call on Weber State that gave Oregon a penalty kick in the 63rd minute of the second half.
Senior Lindsey Werdell took the kick for Oregon and drilled the ball into the right corner of the net to give the Ducks a 1-1 tie and their first goal since Sept. 14.
“We definitely needed to score those goals today to get the whole mindset of having confidence in order to compete next week,” Garbin said. “We felt like we had to go out even harder in this game to get the results.”
Just 85 seconds later, Mintz delivered a 15-yard pass to an open Carlie Ashcraft, who faked out her defender and gave Oregon a 2-1 lead from nine yards out.
After Valadez scored Oregon’s final goal, Weber State made one final charge in the 83rd minute.
Mintz tried to clear the ball by passing it to freshman goalkeeper Emily Marrer. When Marrer kicked the ball, she drilled Wildcat defender Ashley Wood in the chest, causing the ball to bounce toward the goal. This allowed Wood to bring Weber State within one.
With six minutes left, the Wildcats couldn’t tie the game.

The Ducks outdid the Wildcats in two offensive categories. The Ducks recorded 21 shots in the game, compared to Weber State’s four and recorded four more corner kicks.
Oregon also received 12 fouls to Weber State’s 11.
Among the positives, Oregon can take solace in finally using opportunities it created after going five straight games without a goal.
“It was good to create chances and then finish them,” Steffen said. “We got a little more spark, a little bit more life up front, and part of that was our fitness.”
Oregon also played host to Portland over the weekend. The Pilots defeated the Ducks 1-0 on Friday night.
Oregon played more than 78 minutes of solid defense, keeping the contest scoreless before Portland midfielder Lindsey Huie delivered a blow from 19 yards center.
“She’s a great player,” Mintz said after Friday’s game. “It was just basically all of us trying to get a handle on her and double team her. It was a matter of us playing team defense because one-on-one there’s no chance against her.”
Oregon begins conference play against rival Oregon State in Corvallis on Saturday at 3 p.m.