Sports Editor
Peter Hockaday
peterhockaday@dailyemerald.com
-Oregon Daily Emerald
Sports
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Monday, September 30,2002
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Adam Amato Emerald
Oregon sophomore Kelly Baird (20) takes out North Carolina's Sara Randolph Sunday. The Ducks eventually fell to UNC
Ducks get Heel-ed
by top-ranked UNC
Oregon battles with the perennial
contender Tar Heels, but the Ducks
fall in the end, 3-0 at Pape Field
Jesse Thomas
Sports Reporter
The Oregon women’s soccer team had
its work cut out for it as it faced off
against No. 1-ranked North Carolina at
Pape Field on Sunday in front of a record
1,558 screaming fans.
The Tar Heels walked off with a 3-0 win
in their first meeting with Oregon
since 2000.
“It’s the kind of game we’ve got to get
better from,” Oregon head coach Bill
Steffen said. “Sometimes we got a little
bit excited once we got to the attack, and
we just have to build off of this.”
Oregon (1-5-1) was outplayed by North
Carolina (8-0-2) from the start, despite
the Ducks’ strong effort on defense.
The Tar Heels had a commanding pres
ence from the beginning. Their first shot
came only four minutes into play. On
North Carolina’s second attempt with
34:50 on the clock, sophomore forward
Anne Morrell scored from within five feet
to put the team on the scoreboard.
The Ducks continued to play hard and
match North Carolina’s intensity, and
momentum swung their way as they
pressured the goal with 27 minutes left.
Four minutes later, forward Sarah Den
ner broke away to give senior Amanda
Orand a shot at a header which fell short
of the goal for Oregon’s first shot attempt.
“We played really hard,” Orand said.
“It shows us what level we can play at,
and it helps us step up to their level.”
North Carolina soon regained control,
and goalkeeper Sarah Peters was put to
the test as she had two more shots come
her way with 20 minutes to go, but didn’t
let them pass.
Peters had a season-high 10 saves, with
nine of them coming in the second half.
“She’s the best goalkeeper we’ve seen
all year,” North Carolina coach Anson
Dorrance said. “She has the potential to
play in the WUSA. She’s that good.”
The Tar Heels fired off four more shots
before Oregon found life again with 14
minutes left in the first half. Forward Va
lerie Mayer had a golden opportunity in
the 32nd minute but was called offsides.
The Ducks seized momentum towards
the end of the first half, holding the
Turn to Soccer, page 16
Carolina gives Oregon a blueprint for success
The Tar Heels humble the
Ducks on Sunday, but Oregon
leams from the experience
Peter Hockaday
Sports Editor
Dean Smith, the legendary North
Carolina basketball coach, once wry
ly noted that his school wasn’t a bas
ketball school, despite the rich tradi
tion surrounding the hoops
powerhouse.
No, he said, North Carolina is a
women’s soccer school.
On Sunday, the Oregon Ducks
found out why that’s true as they put
up a monumental effort and still fell
to the Tar Heels, 3-0 at Pape Field.
North Carolina has a list of ac
complishments longer than a Sarah
Peters goal kick, and at times Sun
day it felt like the Ducks were play
ing a media guide instead of a soc
cer team. The Tar Heels have
won 17 national championships in
this fashion, by intimidating and
bullying opponents.
But two Oregon coaches spent
Sunday staring down the present,
not the past.
“We love the challenge, we want to
coach against the best,” Oregon as
sistant coach Keri Sanchez said.
Sanchez and head coach Bill Stef
fen both have close ties to the soccer
powerhouse from Chapel Hill.
Sanchez was a standout player for
North Carolina from 1991-94, and
among other accomplishments
scored the winning goals in the Tar
Heels’ national championship games
in 1992 and 1993.
Steffen was an assistant coach at
North Carolina, focusing on the de
fense and goalkeepers, from 1993-95.
“It was more emotional from a
standpoint of, ‘What can we do
against them?’ ” Steffen said. “We
want to know where we stack up
against the best team in the coun
try.”
Steffen’s defense showed North
Garolina-esque tendencies in hold
ing the Tar Heels to only three goals.
But that may have had more to do
with Peters, the Oregon goalie who
Tar Heel coach Anson Dorrance
called “the best goalkeeper we’ve
seen all year.” Peters made several
leaping saves and showed poise
in net.
Dorrance said that Steffen’s deft
handling of ‘keepers is not some
thing he learned at Chapel Hill.
“He came in with everything he
needed,” Dorrance said, laughing.
Dorrance has crafted the most
successful college sports program in
history — going back to Dean
Smith’s comments, North Carolina is
known nation-wide for its soccer
program — by building a system that
Turn to Carolina, page 16
Arizona looms as Ducks begin Pac-10 title defense
Despite being 4-0, Oregon
seeks consistency in its
offense as it opens Pac-10
play Saturday in Arizona
Adam Jude
Senior Sports Reporter
And now the fun begins.
After opening the season with
four home wins over four non
conference teams it was favored
to beat, the Oregon football squad
begins defense of its Pacific-10
Conference crown Saturday
at Arizona.
From an outsider’s perspec
tive, it’s easy to start matching
up the Ducks’ future opponents.
UCLA awaits in two weeks for a
rematch at the Rose Bowl. No.
20 USC comes to town Oct. 2?6
in what is always an entertaining
battle. In November, the Ducks
will face Washington State,
Washington and Oregon State in
consecutive weeks.
But Oregon’s calendar appar
ently doesn’t read any further
than Saturday.
“We’re not looking past Ari
zona,” said head coach Mike Bel
lotti, whose team jumped up a
spot Sunday to No. 7 in the
ESPN/USA Today coaches’ poll,
despite not playing last week.
“We’re the defending Pac-10
champions. We gotta go out there
and get it,” he said.
Getting a third straight confer
ence championship (the Ducks
shared the title in 2000) won’t be
easy. Seven Pac-10 teams were
ranked in the top-25 at some
point during the preseason. Even
California, a team that finished
with only one win last year, is
among the top teams in the Pac
10.
“The Pac-10 is the best confer
ence in the nation, there’s no
doubt about that,” said Bellotti,
who is 37-19 in the Pac-10 in
seven seasons.
Bellotti has said if a team goes
undefeated in the Pac-10, it
should be playing for the national
championship.
“We’re going to run through the
Pac-10 — you can quote me on
that,” said junior safety Keith
Lewis, who sat out with an injury
in Oregon’s only loss last year, a
49-42 Stanford victory at Autzen
Stadium.
The run must start this week in
Tucson, where the Joey Harring
ton-led Ducks torched the Wild
cats for 63 points last season.
This season, Arizona finished
3-1 in the preseason, narrowly
defeating North Texas 14-9 at
home Saturday. The Wildcats lost
to Wisconsin 31-10 on Sept. 21.
As for Oregon, Bellotti said
there’s still much room for im
provement. He said he is looking
for consistency from his offense,
particularly in the passing game.
While tailback Onterrio Smith
put up Heisman-level numbers in
the preseason (467 yards, seven
touchdowns), first-year starting
quarterback Jason Fife has been
shaky at times.
Fife’s numbers are impressive:
880 yards passing, and eight
touchdowns to one interception in
four games. But Bellotti said Ore
gon has become a “quick-strike
team” with few sustained drives.
Bellotti said he expects Fife to
Turn to Football, page 14
Adam Amato Emerald
Onterrio Smith and the Ducks look towards the Pac-10 season, hoping it provides answers.