Soccer Returns Home With an Eye on the NCAA Tournament

Oregon wraps up the 2019 season with a three-game home stand with hopes of a winning season and an NCAA Tournament bid. That stretch begins with Arizona State on Thursday (5 p.m., Pac-12 Networks) and Arizona on Sunday (12 p.m., Pac-12 Live Stream).

KEY STORYLINES
• The 2018 season marks the 25th season in program history (1980-81; 1996-2018).
• Oregon's last five games were all against 2017 NCAA Tournament teams (three on the road) and the Ducks were without leading scorer Marissa Everett for all five. Oregon was outscored 14-3 during that span.
• The Ducks are No. 47 in this week's NCAA RPI, after reaching an all-time high for the program of No. 14 on Sept. 24.
• The matches in Los Angeles were Oregon's fifth and sixth contests against ranked opponents this season. Six matches versus top-25 opponents are the most for the Ducks since the 2011 season, when they also faced six ranked squads.
• Seniors Marissa Everett and Kyra Fawcett are climbing the UO career lists in goals, GWG, points, assists and shots. Senior goalkeeper Halla Hinriksdottir ranks in UO's career top five in wins, shutouts and saves.
• UO alum Marlo Sweatman and Jamaica finished third in the 2018 CONCACAF Gold Cup to qualify for the 2019 World Cup.

SCOUTING ARIZONA STATE/ARIZONA
The penultimate weekend of the conference season finds the Ducks and the Arizona schools in the midst of a race to the finish line, jockeying for NCAA Tournament position. Last week, ASU swept Washington State (3-1) and Washington (2-1) to get back into the NCAA conversation, while Arizona swept the Washington schools to reach 10 wins on the season. The Wildcats are second in the conference at 6.81 corners per game. Arizona keeper Lainey Burdett is second in the conference with six shutouts. Last season versus ASU, Marissa Everett scored twice - assisted both times by Bayley Bruner - in the Ducks' 3-0 triumph.

TOP 50 RPI
Despite their recent struggles, Oregon has an RPI of 47 this week, after attaining a program-high of No. 14 on Sept. 24.

TOUGH SLEDDING WITHOUT EVERETT
Leading scorer Marissa Everett injured her hamstring in the final minute of the Sept. 30 game at Washington and has missed the last five games. Ducks that span, the Ducks have been outscored 14-3. Prior to Everett's injury, Oregon had a 14-8 edge in goals scored.

EFFICIENT EVERETT
Two-thirds of senior Marissa Everett's shot attempts have been on frame. Of her 15 strikes, six have found the net and another four have been saved.

NCAA TOURNAMENT TALK
Oregon is 2-6 versus teams that qualified for the 2017 NCAA Tournament. So far this season, the Ducks have defeated Stony Brook (2-1) and Clemson (1-0) and have lost to Washington State (2-1), Stanford (1-0, ot), California (2-1), Colorado (4-1), UCLA (2-1) and USC (5-0). Oregon has one more 2017 NCAA Tournament team on the schedule: Arizona.

EVERETT, FAWCETT MOVE UP OFFENSIVE CAREER LISTS
Seniors Marissa Everett and Kyra Fawcett have made their way into a number of UO offensive career top-10 lists. Everett is third in game-winning goals (9), sixth in goals (16), fifth in points (42, 16 goals, 10 assists), eighth in assists (10) and sixth in shots (134). Fawcett is seventh in game-winning goals (5), ninth in goals (12) and 10th in points (27, 12 goals, 3 assists).

HINRIKSDOTTIR CLIMBING GOALKEEPER CAREER LISTS
Senior Halla Hinriksdottir is currently ranked third in UO career wins (22) and shutouts (14). She is just three wins shy of the UO career record. She is also fifth in saves (194). With six more saves, Hinriksdottir will become just the fifth Duck to reach the 200-save plateau.

PAC-12 LEADERS
Goalkeeper Halla Hinriksdottir is fifth in the Pac-12 with five shutouts.

IRON ALYSSA
Alyssa Hinojosa has played in every minute so far this season (1469). In the last two years, the junior from Sylmar, Calif., has missed a grand total of 32 minutes of game action.

BAYLEY BREAKS THROUGH
Bayley Bruner is emerging as a third scoring option for the Ducks. She has a pair of goals this season - including recently versus California - and five in her career.

SWEATMAN, JAMAICA ADVANCE TO 2019 WORLD CUP
UO alum Marlo Sweatman and Team Jamaica defeated Panama on penalty kicks (4-2) in the 2018 CONCACAF Gold Cup consolation final on Oct. 17 to earn an automatic bid to the 2019 World Cup in France. Sweatman, a starting midfielder for Jamaica, will become the first Duck to play in the World Cup.