Emerald
Editor in chief: Laura Cadiz
Sports Editor: Tim Pyle
Best Bet
NFL Football
Atlanta vs. Pittsburgh
6 p.m., ABC
i C I don’t know
how healthy he
is. But he made
it through, and
that’s awesome.
He appeared
pretty healthy to
me.
Mike Bellotti
UO head coach
n
Oregon 44, Arizona 4l
Hr'm * SI fP
L * m
■f
Dan Cassino Arizona Daily Wildcat
Ducks tailback
Reuben Droughns
cuts through the
Arizona detense on
one of his school
record 45 carries in
Saturday night’s
win in Tucson,
Ariz. Droughns fin
ished with 202
yards rushing and
two touchdowns.
Ducks, Droughns carry away victory
■ uregon re-establishes itself in
the Pac-10 race with an electrifying
44-41 victory at Arizona
By Mirjam Swanson
Oregon Daily Emerald
Another road game, another gut-check.
And finally, for the first time in the last
eight tries, a win in somebody else’s
house.
An important win at that.
Saturday’s wild 44-41 victory against
Arizona, secured in the waning seconds
on a missed field goal by Wildcat kicker
Mark MacDonald, puts the Oregon foot
ball team precisely where it hoped to be.
With four games to go, the Ducks (4-3
overall, 2-2 Pacific-10 Conference) are tied
for third and find them
selves in the thick of this
season’s bizarre, utterly un
predictable race for the Pac
10 crown.
“I’m so proud of this
group,” head coach Mike Bellotti said dur
ing his postgame radio interview with
KUGN. “It’s tough to come in and play [the
Wildcats.] They were on a roll, and this is
their place. Our kids did a great job. ”
Bellotti saw a handful of his “kids”
come through with contributions that en
abled Oregon to avenge last season’s 38-8
drubbing in Tucson, Ariz.
No performance was greater than that of
tailback Reuben Droughns — the player
who hadn’t even been present at last sea
son’s blowout because of the season-end
ing injuries he’d suffered at UCLA the
week before.
On Saturday, Droughns was the healthi
est he had been since injuring his ribs
against Southern California on Oct. 9.
Probably still not 100 percent, Droughns
rushed 45 times for 202 yards and two
touchdowns. And naturally, the Ducks
rode their workhorse to the win.
“I don’t know how healthy he is,” Bel
lotti said. “But he made it through, and
that’s awesome. He appeared pretty
healthy to me.”
And to Arizona (5-3, 2-2) as well.
Even when he didn’t find the end zone
himself, Droughns helped set up Oregon
scores on several other possessions, includ
ing the winning field goal by placekicker
Josh Frankel on the Ducks’ final drive.
But Droughns was far from the only star
playing hero in front of the 55,251 in at
tendance at Arizona Stadium.
Every high-profile player on both teams
showed up ready to play — including the
Ducks’ emerging talents, Frankel and
quarterback Joey Harrington.
“Each one of [Arizona’s] big four —
[Trung] Canidate, [Dennis] Northcutt, [Or
tege] Jenkins and [Keith] Smith — had at
Turn to Football, Paged
Oregon declaws
Cougars but still prey to Huskies
The Ducks earn
their first win
against
Washington
State, but they
come up just
short trying to do
the same at
Washington
By Brett Williams
Oregon Daily Emerald
On the road to respectability,
there are sure to be some bumps
along the way.
And it has been a turbulent
ride for the Oregon women’s
soccer team against the Wash
ington schools. The Ducks en
tered last weekend a combined
0-6 against their Northwest op
ponents.
But Friday in Pullman,
Wash., the Ducks finally
snapped that streak with a 2-1
win over Washington State.
Washington, however, contin
ued its dominance of Oregon
with a 1-0 victory in Seattle on
Sunday.
Oregon (6-9 overall, 2-3 Pacif
ic-10 Conference) played neck
and neck with its opponents,
forcing both games into overtime.
The Washington State win
was monumental because it was
the second game in a row that
freshman Julie McLellan left her
mark. The forward from Vernon,
B.C., scored the game-winning
goal in overtime for the Ducks
less than a week after one of her
goals ignited Oregon in its 4-0
win at Oregon State.
While the goal against the
Cougars was credited to McLel
lan, she got some help in ending
the game. Re
plays of
McLellan’s fi
nal shot
showed that
after the shot
was blocked
by Washington
State goalkeeper Lindsay Jor
genson, a Cougar defender inad
vertently knocked the ball into
the goal for the final margin. Jor
genson, who is second in the
Pac-10 in saves, ended the game
with nine saves.
Washington State grabbed the
early lead on sweeper Beth
Childs’ goal, but Oregon came
right back and tied the game 1-1
on midfielder Sierra Marsh’s
penalty shot.
Statistically, the Ducks domi
nated the Cougars in all cate
gories except goals. Oregon out
shot Washington Sate 22-9, and
the Ducks had numerous
chances to score on comer kicks,
with nine more than the
Cougars.
In a season in which they
have lost games they have domi
nated, the Ducks refused to lose
this time. Oregon head coach
Bill Steffen was able to breathe
a sigh of relief after his team left
Cougar Field with a win for the
first time in team history.
“This was a good win for us,”
Steffen said in a released state
ment. “We pounded and pound
ed them in the first half, and it is
good for us to finally nail down a
win that we truly deserve.
“We have had other games
that we deserved to win but did
n’t, so it is good for the girls to fi
nally feel like they won a game
they dominated.”
Oregon suffered a bit of a let
down against the Huskies (6-7
1,3-1-1), who are still vying for a
berth in the NCAA Toumament.
The first half was a fairly even
affair, with Oregon outshooting
the Huskies 7-6 and the score re
maining 0-0.
But something fired up Wash
ington after halftime. The
Huskies were determined to
keep their undefeated record
against the Ducks in tact, and
they began putting immense
pressure on Oregon’s defense
and goalkeeper Amanda Fox.
Huskies senior Anna Biddle
had Washington’s best chance
to score, but her shot with just
more than 30 minutes left in reg
ulation ricocheted off the cross
bar. Washington outshot Oregon
20-6 after halftime, but Fox —
who finished with nine saves —
held off the Huskies and forced
the game into overtime.
Washington and Oregon had
almost fought to a standstill
when Huskies junior Theresa
Wagner scored the game winner.
The Huskies’ Caroline Putz as
sisted as Wagner decided the
game from about 15 yards out af
ter the rivals battled for more
them 118 minutes without a goal.
The Hustle
Friday
Oregon 2,
WSU10T
Sunday
Washington 1,
Oregon 0 OT
Next Up
Oregon vs. USC,
3 p.m. Friday at
PapS Field