Ducks Fight but Come up Short at Arizona
TUCSON, Ariz. – The Oregon soccer team fought hard, but a goal in the 88th minute put the win in Arizona’s favor as the Wildcats took the 2-1 victory at home Friday night at Mulcahy Stadium.
HOW IT HAPPENED: Arizona came out of the opening whistling blazing as the Wildcats took four shots in the opening eight minutes. Two of those came from Gabi Stoian as she tested Ducks’ keeper Halla Hinriksdóttir for the first time at the 6:40 mark.
But the Ducks weathered the storm and settled down to put on some offensive pressure of their own on, taking the next five shots. Miranda Schulz led the way on that charge as she had two within a 30-second span. From there, it went back and forth as each team tried to gain the edge.
Then, in the 43rd minute, Gabi Stoian found Paige Crouch who was able to sneak the ball past Hinriksdóttir for the first score of the game. Oregon quickly countered and 13 seconds before the intermission, Abby Morrow found Kyra Fawcett and the freshman put it home for her third score of the season. It marked the first time this season that the Ducks and their opponent were tied at 1-all going into the intermission.
The Wildcats came out of halftime to start the 2nd period much like the first. Just one minute in was all it took for Arizona to get a shot off as Hannah Wong sailed one wide off the corner kick. Paige Crouch then got a look at Hinriksdóttir again in the 56th minute, but this time it was the Duck keeper who got the edge, collecting her third save of the game.
Oregon had some scoring chances in the last 15 minutes of the game as Fawcett, Morrow and Kira Wagoner each had opportunities, but were unable to connect. With the clock winding down and the game looking like it might head into extra time, Arizona’s Ariz Silverberg took a 35 yard shot and scored the game-winner at the 87:38 mark. That would be the difference-maker as the Ducks weren’t able to get any more looks at the Wildcat keeper.
QUOTES:
Head Coach Kat Mertz:
“That’s a tough way to end a game. I thought we played well on and off the ball tonight. We moved the ball well and created goal-scoring opportunities. There was a lot of fight in our Ducks tonight.”
On Kyra Fawcett’s goal:
“Kyra had a great goal which came from an even better service by Abby. Kyra held the ball well and was dangerous in tight spaces tonight.”
UP NEXT: Oregon will close out its road trip Sunday morning at Arizona State. The match is slated to kick-off at 11 a.m. and will be featured live on the Pac-12 Network Oregon.
