Ducks Soccer Drops Final Road Game to Wildcats

Coming off one of its toughest losses of the season - a 5 - 1 set-back at Arizona State on Thursday - Oregon soccer was looking for a bounce-back game against the Arizona Wildcats in Tucson this afternoon. But after playing the Cats tough for a half, Oregon gave up a goal early in the second half and fell to Arizona 4 - 1

The game seemed to get out of hand early as Arizona scored twice in the first half. The Wildcat goals in the 21st and 33rd minutes put Oregon in a 2 - 0 hole. This score was surprising as it was not really reflective of the flow of the game, as both teams had good possession and there was a lot of back-and-forth attacking. Oregon had good shots from Zoe Hasenauer and Lexi Romero before the Arizona goals but could not convert.

Oregon pulled back a goal in the 39th minute and closed to 2 - 1 on a beautiful goal by Kaitlyn Paculba, who knocked in a cross from Hasenauer at the left post. Hasenauer’s assist gave her the all-time Oregon career record for assists. The goal gave the Ducks a boost, and they pressured the Arizona goal for the rest of the half with a shot by Bel Rolley just missing.

The statistical comparison in the first half was much more even than some recent games for the Ducks. Arizona led 9 - 7 in shots, but Oregon had 3 corner kicks to the Wildcats 1. Hasenauer, Romero, Rolley and Paculba all took shots for the Ducks.

SECOND HALF

Oregon again started off the half well, with Hasenauer launching another shot that went high. But Oregon’s push forward seeking a tying goal gave Arizona a chance to counterattack which they did successfully, scoring again just 5 minutes into the half to lead 3 - 1. This Arizona goal seemed to take some of the stuffing out of the Ducks as Arizona had more possession and pressed forward more consistently afterwards. Arizona outshot the Ducks 6 - 0 and had a corner kick over the next 23 minutes. In fact, Oregon would get only one more shot - an off-target blast by Alice Barbieri in the 73rd minute - for the remainder of the game. Arizona scored again in the 89th minute on a long ball misplayed by Oregon’s defense.

The Wildcats outshot Oregon 12 - 2 in the second half and dominated possession. Julia Richards started and played the entire game in goal for Oregon in relief of Leah Freeman. The livestream left something to be desired - there was no live commentary besides the Wildcat PA announcer, and there were no graphics featuring the game clock. They did manage to get the game score graphic up after halftime.

After a run of close, competitive games typically decided by a single goal, the Arizona road trip was out of character for Oregon. The Ducks are now 4-8-6 (W-L-T) on the season and will play their final game of the year at home against Oregon State on Friday, November 4 at 7:00 pm.