Strong Second Half Lifts Ducks Past OSU, 2-0

Friday, March 19

Corvallis, OR

4:00 PM

University of Oregon

4-3-2, 2-2-1

Oregon State

2-7-0, 0-5-0

Oregon

Oregon St.

03/19/21 | Women's Soccer

Box Score Oregon-Oregon State Box Score

CORVALLIS, Ore. – Oregon scored twice in a six-minute span of the second half to defeat Oregon State 2-0 in a nonconference match Friday at Paul Lorenz Field.

Ally Cook scored from 25 yards out in the 54^th minute, while Eden Hardy followed that with a point-blank score in the 60^th minute.

After Oregon (4-3-2, 2-2-1) went up 2-0, Leah Freeman made two huge saves in the last 20 minutes to preserve the shutout.

How it Happened: After a sluggish first half in which the Beavers (2-7-0, 0-5-0) outshot Oregon 8-1, the Ducks went on the offensive in the second period.

Oregon broke through 10 minutes after halftime by taking advantage of an OSU turnover. Jordan Wormdahl broke up a Beaver pass on OSU's side of midfield and deflected the ball in Cook's direction. Cook, a sophomore from Coto de Caza, Calif., collected the ball and dribbled it across the field parallel to the goal before clearing space and ripping a shot from distance into the upper left corner of the net.

Less than six minutes later, the Ducks scored off a corner kick. Wormdahl got a head on Chai Cortez's service and her shot deflected off the near post to Sofia Vinas just outside the six-yard box. Vinas flicked the ball to Hardy who tapped it into the far side of the net for a 2-0 lead.

OSU tried to respond, but Freeman was up to the challenge. In the 71^st minute, she punched a free kick from just outside the penalty box by Brianna McReynolds over the crossbar.

The freshman from Berkeley, Calif., made the save of the game in the 85^th minute. OSU's Bryana Pizarro delivered a cross from the left wing that found McReynolds's head right in front of the goal, but Freeman sprung to her right to make a diving save.

Who Stood Out: Wormdahl, whose mother Brandy lettered for the Oregon State soccer team from 1989-92, was credited with only one shot on the game, but her impact was much more than that as she had a hand in both of Oregon's goals.

What It Means: Oregon moved a game over .500 to start the second half of the season as the Ducks defeated OSU in Corvallis for the first time since 2015.

Notable: Oregon and Oregon State met in a nonconference match for the first time since 1996. All three of Cook's goals in 2020-21 have been game-winners. Cook's four career game-winning goals are tied for seventh in UO history. Vinas, a sophomore from Calabasas, Calif., recorded her first career assist.

Quotable:
Head coach Graeme Abel:
"We didn't start the game the way we wanted to. We allowed too much space and didn't get enough pressure on the ball. We made some adjustments and that, along with our application, allowed us to disrupt their movements and along with that we did a better job of playing out of pressure. Another good team performance."

Up Next: Oregon's three-game road trip continues March 26 at California (7 p.m.).

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