Repeating history: UO looks for LA upsets
Dan Bruneil Emerald
Sophomore Julie McLellan is one of three key offensive players returning to the Ducks’ lineup this weekend to play in Los Angeles.
■ Oregon’s soccer team hopes
to repeat last year’s upset of
UCLA as it travels to Los
Angeles to play the Bruins
By Peter Hockaday
Oregon Daily Emerald
The Oregon soccer team has test
ed the Pacific-10 Conference wa
ters, and head coach Bill Steffen
thinks his team is growing with
each game it plays.
Now, the Ducks must use that
experience, and a little dose of his
tory, as they take on No. 13 USC
and No. 7 UCLA on the road this
weekend.
“We’re going to have to take it
up a level for those teams down in
Los Angeles,”
Steffen said.
The Bruins
were the victims
of perhaps the
biggest upset in
Oregon history
last year, when
the Ducks beat then-No. 20 UCLA
2-1 in Eugene. Oregon senior
Melissa Parker scored the game
winning goal in the 59th minute of
that game.
The Trojans, on the other hand,
have had the Ducks’ number over
the team’s four-year existence. In
four meetings, USC has outscored
Oregon 17-4, including a 3-1 victo
ry at the Ducks’ Pape Field last
season.
Oregon will play at USC on Fri
day, and at UCLA on Sunday.
Ducks on the Fox
The Ducks’ 2-0 victory over Ari
zona last Sunday will be televised
tonight at 8 p.m. on Fox Sports
Net. Chalise Baysa broke Erin An
derson’s all-time Oregon scoring
mark in that game with two goals.
What injuries?
Oregon’s offense has taken a se
rious personnel hit in the last few
games, but the Ducks have man
aged to win two of their last four.
This weekend, Crystal David, Julie
McLellan and T.J. Johnson should
all return to the Ducks’ lineup, giv
ing them more than enough
weapons up front.
David, the team’s second-leading
scorer behind Baysa, had missed
two games after re-injuring her
knee, while McLellan sat out Sun
day’s contest with the flu. Johnson,
a senior and one of Steffen’s most
versatile options off the bench,
missed five games after injuring a
rib against Xavier in September.
Getting their minutes
With so many injuries, Steffen
was forced to play his entire bench
against Arizona on Sunday. The
supporting cast, with a little help
from Baysa, held off the Wildcats
and highlighted what Steffen called
the “incredible depth” of his team.
Sophomore Ellen Sims and
freshman Lindsey Werdell regis
tered their first shots of the year,
while freshman Amy Merrill
played in only her second game of
the year. With those subs in the
game, Oregon was able to control
the ball for much of the second half
Sunday and preserve the Ducks’ 2
0 victory.
Like a broken record
With Oregon’s career goal-scor
ing record under her belt, Baysa
won’t stop there. Baysa is only four
points away from the career point
scoring record, is already tied for
the career game-winning goals
record and is just six points shy of *
the single-season points record.
If she scores three more goals this
season and one of them is a game
winner, Baysa should hold all of
Oregon’s major scoring records
heading into her senior season.
Saving the day
Oregon will face the Pac-lO’s two
top goalkeepers this weekend in
Los Angeles. CiCi Peterson of
UCLA has a 0.39 goals-against aver
age, sixth-best in the country, while
USC’s Lauren Arase is seventh in
the country with a 0.46 GAA.
But the Ducks were able to score
a goal on Erin Reinke, Arizona
State’s keeper, whose 0.66 GAA is
fourth in the Pac-10 and 20th in the
country.