Soccer Travels North For Exhibition Match at Portland
The Oregon soccer team (0-0-0) will start off its 2015 season with an exhibition match against the Portland Pilots (0-0-0) at 7 p.m. Saturday night at Merlo Field.
WHAT TO WATCH FOR
This year’s Ducks squad will have a different look to it as nine seniors departed the team in the spring, eight of whom were starters. With the two leading goal scorers from a year ago in Bri Pugh and Lilly Archer gone, Kat Mertz welcomes the return of scoring threats Maryn Beutler and ShayLee Miner, both of whom sat out last season due to injury. Their return brings experience as a number of new faces look to see increased playing time. One of the most intriguing storylines of training camp focuses on the goalkeeper competition. The departure of 4-year starter Abby Steele has left the spot wide open for the three keepers on the roster to battle every day in training. An early season test against the Pilots will help Mertz and her squad measure progress made thus far in training camp while also offering areas to improve upon before the Ducks open up their regular season at home next Friday against LSU.
OREGON ADDS 10 NEWCOMERS TO 2015 ROSTER
Kat Mertz and the Ducks welcomed 10 newcomers, including nine freshmen and one transfer. Freshmen Brianne Parsons (Santa Rosa, Calif.), Bayley Bruner (Draper, Utah), Sofia Chambers (Westlake Village, Calif.), Marissa Everett (Canyon Lake, Calif.), Kyra Fawcett (Bountiful, Utah), Taylor Kuroda (Honolulu, Hawai’i), Malika Markham (Las Vegas, Nev.), Grace Sponaugle (Sandy, Utah) and Hannah Wilson (San Antonio, Texas) have joined the team, as well as sophomore transfer Mia Costa (Healdsburg, Calif./San Diego).
DUCKS ADD NEW STAFF
Kat Mertz has added Tom Serratore as a volunteer assistant coach to her staff for the 2015 season. Serratore will specialize in working with the Duck goalkeepers. A 2015 graduate of Valparaiso University, Serratore was a member of the Crusaders men’s soccer squad for five years. When he was not competing on the pitch, he was helping coach at various camps and clinics throughout Illinois and Indiana.
BEUTLER AND MINER RETURN
After sitting out the 2014 season due to injury, redshirt junior Maryn Beutler and redshirt sophomore ShayLee Miner will return to the pitch for the Ducks. Both will add experience and depth to the offense. Beutler, a product of Bend, Ore., has started all but one match in her Duck career. As a sophomore in 2013, she had nine shots on goal leading to two scores. That year, she scored the game-winning goal against No. 12 California, helping Oregon defeat its second highest-ranked opponent in program history. Miner hails from nearby Junction City, Ore., and had a standout freshman season in 2013. She led the team with three goals and one assist, good for seven points. Seeing action in all 19 games that season, she will once again look to provide an offensive spark at the forward position.
DUCKS’ DAUNTING DEFENSE
Opponents had a tough time scoring against the Oregon defense in 2014 and this year’s squad will look continue the trend. Redshirt senior Kelsey Foo will be looked upon to anchor a backline that only allowed 236 total shots by its opponents last year, the lowest total under Kat Mertz’s helm. Foo will receive assistance from Kristen Parr who has made the switch from forward to defender for her final season and also junior Ashlee Schulz who logged minutes in 17 games a season ago. Mia Costa will look to add her name to the mix. The sophomore transferred from San Diego where she was named to the West Coast Conference All-Freshmen team in 2014.
GOALKEEPER COMPETITION HEATS UP
How do you replace one of the most decorated goalkeepers in program history? That’s the challenge Kat Mertz faces in fall training as the departure of Abby Steele has put the starting keeper position up for grabs. Senior Katie McCormick, junior Lauren Holden and sophomore Halla Hinriksdóttir are all looking to secure the spot before the Ducks’ first home match next Friday. Holden served as the back-up last season and saw action in three games when Steele went down with an injury. In those competitions, Holden made seven saves while allowing in three goals, good for a 1.33 goals against average. Neither McCormick nor Hinriksdόttir have seen action in a Duck uniform, but both remain strong contenders for the starting spot as Mertz looks for a vocal leader to help the Ducks’ defensive line.
SCOUTING THE PILOTS
Portland compiled a 7-9-3 record last year which included going 4-4-1 in West Coast Conference play. The Pilots, a traditional powerhouse, failed to make the NCAA tournament last season for the first time since 1999.
The squad lost several key playmakers to graduation in the spring including leading goal scorer, Danica Evans, and starters Emily Sippel and Rabekah Kurle. Portland does return 13 letterwinners to the team including eight starters. Junior Hanna de Haan logged 753 minutes in goal last season while sporting a 1.07 goals against average. The Pilots have also welcomed five newcomers to the team.
HOME OPENER ON THE HORIZON
After the exhibition match this weekend, the Ducks will have four more days of training before their home opener against LSU. Slated for 7 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 21, Oregon will kick the season off under the lights against the Tigers live on the Pac-12 Networks. The match-up marks the just the third time in program history that the two teams have played each other. The last meeting came in Baton Rouge, La. in 2011. Following Friday’s competition, the Ducks will hit the road for the first time when they travel to Seattle for a 1 p.m. match on Sunday, Aug. 23.
