Sports Editor
Peter Hockaday
peterhockaday@dailyemerald.com
— Oregon Daily Emerald —
Sports
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7:30 p.m., ESPN
Friday, November 1,2002
Soccer to enter final weekends
of play
The Ducks will be put to the test
in Los Angeles as they enter
their final weeks of play
Soccer
Jesse Thomas
Sports Reporter
The Oregon women’s soccer team
faces a tough weekend in the Confer
ence of Champions as it heads to Los
Angeles to meet UCLA and USC.
The Ducks hope to rewrite histo
ry against the No. 6 Bruins and the
No. 16 Trojans, as Oregon has never
beaten either team on the road. Ore
gon defeated UCLA at home, 2-1 in
1999 and has never beaten USC at
Pape Field.
“We are excited to play against good
teams,” Oregon head coach Bill Stef
fen said. “We go into every match
thinking we can beat these teams and
we need to maintain that attitude.”
Oregon has had to face several
good teams this season. UCLA and
USC are the 11th and 12th top-2S
opponents for the Ducks in 2002.
These will be the final two games on
the road for Oregon before ending
the season with rival Oregon State
on Nov. 8 at home.
Oregon (2-11-2, 1-4-1 Pac-10) is
coming off a weekend in which it
split two games with the desert
schools. The Ducks overcame a 2-0
halftime deficit against Arizona to
notch their first conference win, 3-2.
The Ducks were not able to find
that same magic against Arizona
State on Sunday as Oregon got be
hind 2-0 at halftime but would score
only one goal in the loss.
Oregon is due for a good perform
ance against the Bruins, as it hasn’t
beaten UCLA in three years and did
n’t score on the Bruins in the past
two years.
UCLA (12-3-0, 4-1-0 Pac-10) is
currently second in the Pac-10 be
hind Stanford and is 3-3 overall
against top-25 foes. UCLA and USG
faced off last weekend and the Bru
ins edged their rival 2-0.
"We go into every
match thinking we can
beat these teams and
. we need to maintain
that attitude/'
Bill Steffen
Oregon head coach
The Bruins are led by freshman
forward Iris Mora, who has a team
leading seven goals on only 24 shots,
followed by freshmen forwards Katie
Rivera and Sarah-Gayle Swanson,
who have combined for 10 shots.
Goalkeeper Sarah Lombardo sports
a 0.71 goals-against-average and has
26 saves and six shutouts in 15 games.
“They are a really good team but
Adam Amato Emerald
Duck midfielders Cristan Higa (2) and Carlie Ashcraft (24) face tough tests in Southern California this weekend.
we are, too,” sophomore defender
Christine Mintz said. “It’s kind of
at the point of proving it to ourselves
in addition to proving it to them.”
USC (8-5-3, 3-2-0) is coming off a
loss to the Bruins last weekend and
has only taken one other conference
loss, to top-ranked Stanford.
Senior defender Ali Fennell paces
the Trojans with seven goals, 15
points and 47 shots. In goal, sopho
more Julie Peterson has a 0.83 GAA
with 73 saves and seven shutouts.
Oregon expects a very fast-paced
game against the Trojans and a more
technical contest in the matchup
with the Bruins. The Ducks want to
prove that they can play with any
body, and they have that opportuni
ty with tough tests in Los Angeles
this weekend.
Contact the sports reporter
at jessethomas@dailyemerald.com.
Harriers hunger for Pac-lOs
Oregon cross country squads take on the Pac-10
in Saturday’s conference championship meet
Cross country
Mindi Rice
Freelance Sports Reporter
The Oregon cross country squads are flying south to
Pasadena, Calif., this weekend.
Saturday, the Ducks will race in the Pacific-10 Conference
Championship meet for an opportunity to qualify for the
NCAA Championship meet.
The Oregon men are ranked fifth in the nation and are sec
ond only to Stanford in the Pac-10.
“We’ve had a great training cycle, everybody’s fine physical
ly and we hopefully can peak in proper form the rest of the
season,” men’s head coach Martin Smith said.
This season the men raced in the Sept. 28 Roy Griak Invita
tional, where the Ducks finished as the top team. They have also
sent “B” squads to two local
races, but the top runners have
not raced since Griak.
“It’s definitely made us
hungrier,” senior Jason Hart
mann said. “I think, as a
group, we’re training at a new
level, and we’re going into
the race more prepared than
in the past.”
In the 2001 Pac-10 Cham
pionships, the Ducks finished
third while Hartmann fin
ished sixth individually.
This year, Oregon is send
ing seven men to run in the
championship. Hartmann will be the only senior in the pack.
He is joined by juniors Brett Holts and Noel Paulson, redshirt
junior John Lucas, redshirt sophomores Eric Logsdon and
Ryan Andrus and redshirt freshman Will Viviani.
“We have a good 1-2 punch up front in Jason Hartmann and
Ryan Andrus, who will target to be in the pack up front,”
Smith said. “Our success will also be predicated in how tight
a pack we have from our No. 3 through 6 runners. If they can
keep a tight gap, we should do well.”
On the women’s side, the Ducks look to make a case for an
"I think, as a group,
we're training at
a new level, and
we're going into
the race more
prepared than
in the past"
Jason Hartmann
senior
Geoff Thurner Oregon Media Services
Carrie Zografos and the Ducks are running toward the Pac-10s.
NCAA appearance.
“We want to be top five or better. Beating Washington, Ari
zona State or UCLA would really help us get into nationals,”
women’s head coach Tom Heinonen said.
The Oregon women have run in three meets this season
and also sent “B” teams to two local meets. The Ducks took
third as a team at the Willamette Invitational, with redshirt
senior Carrie Zografos and junior Magdalena Sandoval both
out with injuries.
“We haven’t had a race where everybody’s been on at the
Turn to Cross country, page 10A
Ducks to host
tennis tourney
The Duck Classic is played round-robin style, and
is the first tennis event of the early 2002-03 season
Tennis
Ryan Heath
Freelance Sports Reporter
The Oregon men’s tennis team is tired of spending its week
ends away from Eugene, but it wants to gain more experience
with outside competition before the dual meet season begins.
Enter the Duck Classic.
This weekend the Ducks will host their first tennis event of
the 2002-03 season and the same goals still apply.
“We just want to get as many matches in as possible,” men’s
head coach Chris Russell said. “It’s all about getting better.”
The Duck Classic is different from the tournaments the men
played in October. It is a round robin tournament that does not
crown a champion. The team with the most victories is consid
ered the winner.
Last year, the Ducks led the way with 17 wins (15 singles and
two doubles). Second-place Boise State will be returning to Eu
gene along with Nebraska and Portland.
Jason Menke led the Ducks with four singles wins and a dou
bles win last season. He was closely followed by Chris King and
Kyle Halberg vitli three and two wins, respectively. The Ducks
will also be looking to showcase freshmen Thomas Bieri, Junaid
Hossain, Arron Spencer and Andrew Walker.
“Our young guys are going to have to step up for us this year,”
Russell said. “It is good for them to get this experience now.”
Boise State’s Marcus Berntson will look to improve on his
three singles and three doubles wins from a year ago. Berntson
will be joined by Duck Classic veterans and teammates Mah
moud Rezik and Beck Roghar. Rezik finished last year with
three singles wins and two doubles wins while Roghar managed
one singles victory.
The lone Nebraska Comhuskcr returning to Eugene with any
Duck Classic experience is junior Jose Hernan.
The Duck Classic will be held at the Student Tennis Center
all weekend.
Ryan Heath is a freelance writer for the Emerald.