Stoltenberg Leads Ducks to Second-Straight Pac-10 Win

Sunday, November 2

Tucson, Ariz.

Noon

University of Oregon

Arizona

Photo by: GoDucks.com

Stoltenberg Leads Ducks to Second-Straight Pac-10 Win

11/02/08 | Women's Soccer

By: GoDucks.com

TUCSON, Ariz. -- The Oregon women's soccer team pulled off its second straight Pac-10 win on Sunday afternoon, defeating Arizona 1-0 on Jen Stoltenberg's late goal at UA's Murphey Stadium.

Oregon improved to 9-7-2 (2-4-1 Pac-10) with the victory while Arizona fell to 9-9-0 (2-5-0 Pac-10) with the loss.

Stoltenberg, who scored in the first minute of play to push Oregon to a 1-0 victory at Arizona State on Friday night, took a little longer to put away the Wildcats.

With the clock winding down and just more than seven minutes left to play in regulation, Mercedes Walters found Stoltenberg in the middle of the field and the sophomore from Mission Viejo, Calif., used her speed to split the defense down the middle of the field and fired the game-winning goal from 25 yards out to the top left corner of the net. It was Stoltenberg's team-leading 10th goal of the season and second game-winner of the weekend - fourth total.

The Oregon defense would make Stoltenberg's goal stand-up as it closed out the game even with Arizona adding another offensive player in the final minutes. It was Cody Miles in net, however, that gave the Ducks a chance to score a game-winning goal rather than a game-tying score.

With 15 minutes left to play an Arizona forward found herself one-on-one against Miles and the freshman keeper from Salem, Ore., attacked the play head-on and made a spectacular save to preserve the scoreless game and her second-straight clean sheet victory, sixth overall.

“Cody is gaining so much confidence in herself and the team is gaining confidence in her as well,” said Erickson. “She is improving each and every game.”

The conditions were far from what the Ducks had practiced in all week. With temperatures hovering at the 90 degree mark, Erickson used five players off her bench in the contest.

“Our subs really gave us a lot of extra energy, especially late in the game,” Erickson said.

Oregon once again was victorious without out-shooting its opponent. Oregon won for the first time with less shots taken on Friday at Arizona State and was out-shot 10-9 against Arizona on Sunday. The Wildcats also held a 3-2 advantage in corner kicks but both keepers grabbed five saves.

The Ducks will return home from a very successful road trip to play host to the final weekend of regular season play. Oregon will end the season with a bang, hosting No. 10 USC at 7 p.m. on Friday and No. 4 UCLA at 11 a.m. on Sunday.

NOTES: With 25 points this season, Jen Stoltenberg has tied Nicole Garbin (2006) for most points totaled in a single season while her 10 goals is tied with Garbin (2005) for third most in program history for a single season ... After missing both the Washington and Washington State games, Allison Newton returned to the starting midfield in both contests at Arizona State and Arizona ... Cody Miles secured her sixth shutout of the season against Arizona, the second most in a single season in program history (Jessie Chatfield with seven in 2005 is the record.)