Friday
Best Bet
MLB Playoffs: Oakland at N.Y. Yankees,
Game 3 NBC, 5:08 p.m.
SPORTS EDITOR: JEFF SMITH Smittside@aol.com
UO soccer opens Pac-10 play this weekend
■ i ne Ducks will try to get ott on the right toot
against the Arizona schools this weekend at
Oregon’s Pape Field
(( We’re
trying to be
better on
the mental
details. We
need a good
physical ef
fort and a
good men
tal effort as
well.
Bill Steffen
Oregon
head coach
yy
By Peter Hockaday
Oregon Daily Emerald
For the Oregon soccer team, there is
no preseason or postseason right now.
There’s only pre-October and post-Oc
tober.
This month, the Ducks have already
stood up to No. 21 Florida State and lost
in their last preseason game, but now
they start a second season of sorts.
The Pacific-10 Conference season.
Oregon opens up Pac-10 play this
weekend at Pape Field against Arizona
State and Arizona, two Pac-10 foes that
stymied the Ducks last year. Arizona
State beat the Ducks 2-1 last year in Tuc
son, while the Wildcats played Oregon
to a tie in double overtime.
“It’s important for us to get off to a
good start,” Oregon head coach Bill Stef
fen said.
The Ducks will start the season
against Arizona State on Friday, and the
Sun Devils should make that good start
Steffen speaks of more difficult than he
hopes. Arizona State has scored 32 goals
and given up seven goals in 10 games
this year, which has led to its impressive
9-1-0 record.
Many of the Sun Devils’ goals have
come from All-American candidate
Stacey Tullock, last year’s Pac-10 Player
of the Year. Tullock has 10 goals this
year, making her the eighth most effec
tive goal-scorer in the country with 1.11
goals per game.
Turn to Soccer, page 8
Dan Brunell Emerald
Sophomore Kristin Ferris and the Ducks hope to serve up some tough competition in a wild environment at
McArthur Court against Arizona State tonight.
UO volleyball hoping to find
fate against Arizona schools
Volleyball
team wants its
fans to create
an ‘electric
atmosphere’
for an
advantage at
Mac Court
By Adam Jude
Oregon Daily Emerald
The Oregon women’s volleyball
team will be on the lookout this
weekend for a rare sighting in
McArthur Court: fate.
As of late, the Ducks (7-6 overall,
0-5 Pacific-10) have not heard from
the mysterious spiritual leader.
But now would be a good time
for it to make an appearance.
If fate does make its way into
McArthur Court for the two-game
home stand against Arizona State
and Arizona, it will likelv not
bring Oregon its first Pacific-10
Conference win easily.
In tonight’s matchup, Arizona
State (11-4, 3-2) brings its unde
feated road winning streak to Eu
gene with some momentum. Last
week, the Sun Devils defeated No.
21 Stanford for the first time since
1993. Senior Amanda Burbridge
recorded 24 kills, 18 digs and four
service aces in the Sun Devils’ win
and will look to make her pres
ence known against the Ducks.
And that, on paper, is as easy as
Turn to Volleyball, page 8
Dan Brunell Emerald
Junior sweeper Starr Johnson and the rest of the Ducks’ defense will concentrate on Arizona State’s All-American forward, Stacey Tullock.
Pac-10 football heats up
with important contests
■The Pacific-10 Conference football season
continues as teams try to position themselves in
the middle of the Rose Bowl race
By Jeff Smith
Oregon Daily Emerald
The ninth-ranked Oregon
Ducks may not be on the
gridiron this Saturday, but
that doesn’t mean there is
n’t Pacific-10 Conference
football taking place.
This is the point in the
season where the con
tenders begin to separate
themselves from the pre
tenders.
Granted, the month of Oc
tober just began, but if teams
don’t begin to assert them
selves now, it may just be
too late to do so later on.
Arizona (3-1,1-0) at USC
(3-1,0-1)
You can be sure that Ore
gon head coach Mike Bel
lotti and his team will have
their eyes fixed on ABC at
12:30 p.m. on Saturday.
The Ducks get the luxu
ry of checking out their
next opponent from the
comforts of their own
homes in Eugene.
While Oregon will be fo
cusing its attention on No.
18 USC, the Trojans have
much more pertinent prob
lems to worry about.
The Trojans are coming
off a 31-21 defeat at the
hands of Oregon State —
the first time in 33 years
that the Beavers had beat
en USC. Now the Trojans
must find a way to score
against an Arizona defense
that ranks fourth in the na
tion in rushing defense,
ninth in scoring defense
and 20th in total defense.
“This week, we play the
best team that we have
played so far this year,”
USC head coach Paul
Hackett said. “This is
about the time of the year
that we knew we had to
pick up our game.”
Arizona, on the other
hand, is beginning to be
lieve that it is a legitimate
Rose Bowl contender. Last
week’s 27-3 shellacking
over the defending Pac-10
Champion, the Stanford
Cardinal, has only bol
stered such thoughts.
“We have improved our
selves markedly from a
year ago,” said Arizona
head coach Dick Tomey, in
regard to last season’s 4-7
record. “USC is a team
with pride and ability and
I know we will probably
face the best USC team that
anyone has faced this sea
son.”
USC’s Sultan McCul
lough missed some of the
Oregon State game with a
bruised knee but is expect
ed to play. If he does, and
the Trojan defense con
tains Arizona freshman
running back Clarence
Farmer, then USC will win
the game. But it will be
close.
California (1-3,0-1) at
Arizona State (3-1, 0-1)
The bad news for Ari
zona State is that quarter
back Ryan Kealy injured
his knee in last week’s loss
to UCLA and could be
done for the year. The even
worse news is that Kealy’s
back-up, Jeff Krohn, is out
with mononucleosis.
But the good news is that
third-string quarterback
Griffen Goodman gets to
pass against a California
secondary that was eaten up
by a so-so Washington State
aerial attack.
Should the Sun Devil re
ceivers begin to click with
Goodman, it mean a long
day for California. But the
Golden Bears’ defensive
Turn to Pac-10, page 8