University of Oregon
Stanford
Soccer Drops Season Finale 2-0 to Stanford
11/06/05 | Women's Soccer
The Oregon soccer team closed the 2005 season with a 2-0 loss to Stanford Sunday before 387 fans at Pape' Field. Despite the loss, the Ducks earned just the second .500 season in school history with a 9-9-1 record (1-8-0 in the Pac-10).
"We played hard and finished on a positive note for the seniors and had a .500 record," said Oregon head coach Tara Erickson. "Not knowing what to expect going into this season with a new coaching staff and a lot of new players, we have to look at that as a positive."
Stanford scored one goal in each half. In the 30th minute, Martha West dribbled in from the left side and found an unmarked Kelley Birch all alone on her right, and Birch hammered home the game-winning goal from 12 yards out.
The Cardinal added another goal in the second half when an Oregon defender tipped a crossing pass that deflected right to the feet of West, who scored from 15 yards out straight in front of the net.
Erica Holland made two saves in getting the win for Stanford, who moved to 10-6-3 on the season (4-3-2 Pac-10) to keep its NCAA Tournament hopes alive. The NCAA Tournament field will be announced Monday at 2 p.m. on ESPN News.
Despite only having six shots to Stanford's 16, the Ducks saw a pair of scoring opportunities created by Nicole Garbin go just wide.
In the 12th minute, Garbin sent a cross in from the right side to Caitlin Gamble but her hard attempt to redirect the pass went wide of the near post. Then in the 63rd minute, Garbin lifted a cross from the right side to the far post that junior Tiffany Smith headed wide of the net.
Garbin and Smith each had two shots for the Ducks.
"Cristan Higa, Darcie Gardner and the whole back line played pretty well and held their own today," said Erickson.
Gamble and Garbin were two of six seniors who started for Oregon. The other four were midfielders Cristan Higa and Andrea Valadez and defenders Katie Abrahamson and Valerie Mayer. Goalkeeper Domenique Lainez and midfielder Sabrina DeMonte were also honored as they suited up for the final times as Ducks. DeMonte has a year of eligibility remaining, but has decided to graduate in June in order to go on to dental school.
However, Garbin was not one of the seven seniors honored Sunday as she will petition the NCAA for a sixth year of eligibility -- a petition that is expected to be granted -- due to medical hardship. Garbin missed the 2002 and 2004 seasons with knee injuries.
Garbin will return to a team that tripled last season's win total (3-13-3) and set school season records for shutouts (7) and had the best non-conference record in UO history at 8-1-1. Oregon also tied the school record for wins with nine. Sunday against Stanford, the Ducks established a school record for fouls in a season, committing 13 to lift their season total to 227 -- 12 more than the old mark of 215 in 2001 and 2003.
The defense was particularly improved in 2005, allowing 1.71 goals per game, compared to a Pac-10 worst 2.33 in 2004.
"We learned that we have a good defense and goalkeeper," said Erickson. "We're still pretty young in our soccer mentality and in our understanding of the game. We still rely too much on our athleticism rather than strategy and moving the ball to build our attack, but those are things we can work on this spring.
"There were more games that we had chances to win along the way," said Erickson. "But I'm proud of the effort this team put forth in just about every game and I certainly thank the seniors for their hard work. It's tough being a senior under a new coach, but I know they committed to being successful and wanted to make this team better and I thank them for that.."
Notes: Oregon played the game with only 14 healthy field players available...DeMonte had to sit out the Stanford game due to the red card she received Friday against No. 9 California...defender Nicole Dobrzynski was held out as a precaution after experiencing an elevated heart rate following the Cal game, while midfielder Kate Nelson has been out since suffering a concussion Oct. 21 at Oregon State...the good news is that Dobrzynski, a freshman from Danville, Calif., is not expected to suffer any long-term effects due to Friday's episode...the Ducks matched the 2003 team for the school record in wins (9-11-0), while tying the 2001 team for the best record at .500 (8-8-2)...Higa finished her career with 73 games played, which is tied with Sierra Marsh (1996-99) for seventh on the UO list, while Abrahamson appeared in 71 career games -- ninth on the UO list...Higa also became just the seventh Duck with 70 career starts when she opened the Stanford game...with a pair of saves Sunday, goalkeeper Jessie Chatfield finished the year sixth on the UO single-season saves list with 96 and fourth on the goals allowed average list at 1.71.
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