On Friday, the Oregon soccer team won a convincing 2 – 0. home win over Washington Huskies to open Pac-12 Conference play. Ajanae Respass scored first and KessElmore scored late to win the homestanding Ducks. Leah Freeman, Oregon’s goalkeeper, recorded her 17th career shutout, which tied the school record.
In some ways, Washington’s tactics in the game were similar to those employed by the University of Portland against the Ducks last week. To try and free a Duck player, the Pilots had repeatedly sent deep searching balls around and in the Oregon penalty area. Although the Huskies kept moving the ball into Oregon territory, Washington took much longer shots at goal than they did trying to find space within 35 yards. It’s not clear what the Huskies were trying to accomplish because Freeman had no trouble with any of these attempts. Washington may have been hoping for an Oregon defense deflection or Freeman to make a mistake. Many were floated directly to Washington, but they were easily corralled or simply floated over the bar. Washington outshot Oregon 28-8, but only half of the Huskies shots hit the target.
The teams traded possessions at the 35-yard line, trying to find a way to score. Perhaps Washington’s best scoring chance of the game came in just the 10th minute, when a UO giveaway in its area led to an open look by a Huskie forward that was closed down by Defender Anna Phillips at the last moment. Phillips was able to redirect the ball from the Huskie forward and score an Oregon goal kick.
In just the next minute, Ajanae Respass – Oregon’s leading scorer on the year and the recipient of a lot of unhelpful defensive pressure over the last several games – gave the Ducks a lead they would never relinquish. Forward Kaitlyn Pakulba ran down the right side to pass the ball to Respass, who was at the near post. Respass shot the ball across Washington’s goal face immediately, taking Washington’s goalkeeper out of play and placing the ball in the lower left corner of the goal. Oregon held the lead 1 to 0. Washington was the better possession and had more shots.
Ducks defend on Leah Freeman’s long kick that causes a little tug-of-war between Kaitlyn and Ajanae Respass. Respass scores her fourth goal of the season.#GoDucks pic.twitter.com/BZTtVnSdvR
— Oregon Ducks Soccer (@OregonSoccer) September 24, 2022
The second half was a similar affair. Washington made good use of their ball possession to press Oregon. This disrupted Oregon’s ability to build up attacks. Nevertheless, the Ducks created a few more opportunities before the halftime whistle, including a 30th minute cross that was just a bit too high for 2 Oregon forwards and an entry pass to Respass that was just a bit too far and taken off her feet by Washington’s goalkeeper. Most of Washington’s chances were from too far away, or high or wide, or were saved by Freeman.
SECOND HALF
There was little change in either team’s strategy as the second half opened, and the early results were just the same. Washington kept launching long-distance shots, crosses and crosses with little success. The Ducks also tried to resist the Huskies’ pressure to get the ball down to scoring position. The majority of the game took place between the 18-yard boxes, but Oregon started finding the range as the second half progressed. After Respass’s long pass, Lexi Romero was able to miss the goal from the left side in the 55th minutes. Romero’s close range shot also went over the line in the 58th minute. In the 70th minute, Kess Elmore scored an opportunistic goal, her first action since returning from injury. It was from 16 yards following an Oregon corner kick. After a scramble, Elmore was awarded the ball. She scored when the ball deflected from a Huskie defender to the left side. Oregon led 2 to 0.
Oregon found itself in the fortunate position of needing to win the game within 20 minutes. The Ducks weren’t satisfied to just sit back, play defense and waste time, however. In the 71st minute, a cross from Romero just missed Croix Soto’s head and in the 72nd minute Oregon had a free kick just outside the Huskie 18-yard box that generated a header and a subsequent corner kick. Washington continued to try shots and crosses from 35 – 50 yards, but Oregon’s defense and Freeman were always equal to the task. Freeman made an outstanding save on a UW breakout in the 86th minute, and Oregon was able run out the clock to secure victory. Freeman was able to save 14 shots, one more than the school record.
Oregon is working with its injured players to get them back into the lineup. Graeme Abel, Oregon coach, said this week that the Ducks’ recent schedule has allowed them ample time to rest and recover. Players who have been pressed into service they aren’t used to – as starters, perhaps, or playing longer minutes than normal – have had a chance to be fully ready for the next game action.
GAME NOTES
Oregon’s goal this season, as last, is to qualify for the NCAA tournament. Oregon’s pre-season failures were due in large part to injuries. The Pac-12 season will now be more important if they are to qualify for the NCAA tournament.
Washington was not as tough in the pre-season. The Huskies entered the game undefeated, but suffered their first loss of year. Oregon is now 3-2-4 (W–L-T), and Washington is 6-1-2.
Normal sporting matches will have teams commit similar numbers of infractions and fouls. In tonight’s game, Oregon was whistled for 20 fouls and was issued 3 yellow (caution) cards while Washington had only 13 fouls and no yellow cards. Oregon was often surprised at the fouls they received, especially when players were trying to get a ball. They were likely equally responsible for all fouls. Oregon was the victim of most 50/50 foul calls.
NEXT UP
The Ducks will face top-ranked UCLA in Eugene on Thursday, at 7:00 PM.
from Salem – Salem Local News https://bit.ly/3r714Fn
via IFTTT
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