Oregon Soccer Battles To 0-0 Tie With Missouri State

Oregon soccer played their second match of a four-game road trip in Springfield, MO, against the Missouri State Bears (3-0-1).

The Ducks (0-2-1) overcame some uninspiring play in the first third of the match. In the initial 30 minutes, Oregon did not have any shots or corner kicks because, well, they weren’t playing by the Bears goal. Meanwhile, Missouri State had four shots and a corner kick under their belt when Ajanae Respass picked up Oregon’s first shot at the 30:47 mark.

From that point on, Oregon’s ball movement and penetration into the Bears’ box was much improved. When all was said and done, the Ducks pulled even by game’s end, with 12 shots to 13 for Missouri State, and six CKs to four for the Bears.

Not that the Bears weren’t trying. They came up empty largely due to Maddy Goldberg’s denial of the goal. Goldberg had a career-high (thus far) eight saves to keep the Bears off the board.

The shots on goal by the Ducks were spread around with only Trinity Morales shooting twice on goal.

While it’s true that Baylor and Arkansas are much better teams than the Ducks, it’s also been true that Oregon’s ball control has left a lot to be desired. It hasn’t been until the last 60 minutes of this match that Oregon has started to show some progress in ball control and offensive movement.

There’s a lot of room for the Ducks to improve, but it’s still very early in the season, and the progress made to date is encouraging, especially in today’s match.

Oregon next travels to Flagstaff, AZ, for a Thursday night match against Northern Arizona. Kickoff will be at 7:00 pm PT and can be seen on ESPN+.