Oregon Soccer: Ducks Tied Up At Papé Field

The Oregon Ducks battled to a 1-1 tie today against the University of San Francisco Dons. After a couple of minutes into the game, it was apparent something wasn’t firing quite right for the Ducks offensively. Also, SF is a better team than New Mexico State, and was regularly penetrating into the box and taking shots. After 30 minutes of play. the Dons had 11 shots on goal. Oregon? Two. Said coach Abel, after the game, “It’s not good enough from our part. We had a game plan and we didn’t execute on the game plan. The first half? That’s not an Oregon team right there.”

SF scored their goal 23 minutes into the game. It was a wonder that they didn’t score more; but there were a couple of open shots that they missed, and goalkeeper Leah Freeman tied her own record for saves in a game with nine saves in this match. Unlike the game against the Aggies, Freeman was constantly challenged today, and responded with a terrific game.

The second half was more physical, with both teams earning a couple of yellow cards. Oregon tied the game with a huge midfield score by True Dydasco.

After the goal, both teams were fighting hard and could not break the tie. But the real story of this game lies in the offensive opportunities created. For the game, the Dons had 9 corner kicks to 2 for Oregon. SF had 24 shots in total and 10 shots on goal. The Ducks had only six total shots and two on goal. The Dons are probably kicking themselves for squandering their many opportunities, and the Ducks are lamenting their inability to drive and take shots.

Although no coach would use it as an excuse, the Corban game that was cancelled at the beginning of the season was unfortunate. All of the sports outside of football use exhibition games to work out the kinks and the Ducks were not afforded that opportunity.

Oregon did battle back to tie the game up, so there are positive things to take away from this game. “It shows we’re fighters, it shows we still have that piece,” said coach Abel. “But we can’t survive on just being fighters alone. We have to be a better team...they outshot us 24 to 6 and that can’t happen, especially at Papé.”

Morgan L. Blackwell

Next up, Oregon Soccer travels to Spokane to play Gonzaga. That game is on Saturday, 8/27/22, and will be televised on the WCC Network.