Sports Editor:
Hank Hager
hankhager@dailyemerald.com
Thursday, October 2, 2003
-Oregon Daily Emerald
SPORTS
Best bet
College football:
West Virginia at Miami
4:30 p.m., ESPN
Jesse Thomas
Go the distance
Oregon
soccer will
rally; wait
and see
As soon as the Oregon women's soccer
team propelled itself into what appeared
to be promising athletic prominence with
the best start in school history, it fell off
the radar.
What began as a 5-0 undefeated record
soon became 5-4 with a squad on the
verge of falling below .500. What were sig
nificant wins over teams like Boise State,
San Francisco and Sacramento State quick
ly became overshadowed by the storm
clouds that have been pouring on the Ore
gon offense.
The Ducks would like to erase the mem
ories that remain from the games in Dal
las and Los Angeles. To make a long story
short, Oregon lost those four games in a
combined score of 19-0.
To add gas to the fire, the Ducks return
* home to Pape Field this week — where
they remain undefeated — to face defend
ing national champion Portland, which
beat them 3-0 last season.
So what does it all really mean? Mow
can a team go from so good to not so good
over the course of one week? Well, they
could ask the football team. And how can
one view the record, the team and the
schedule in the larger scheme of things?
For starters, the problem with sports
fans today is that patience is a virtue they
don't have. Fans don't believe in building a
program because they think the team
should be national caliber now.
The women's soccer team has been in
existence for less than a decade, and the
evolution of the program came in 1996.
Oregon is now seven seasons in the mak
ing, with no postseason appearances and
an 8-8 finish in 2001 as its best season per
formance.
Redshirt junior Erin Engelhardt
summed it up best: "There's potential,
and that's one of the most exciting
things," she said.
There is pbtential, and it is a disgrace to
the program that the majority of the stu
dent body fails to see that. The focus is
kept on the present. And as of now, the
negatives rather than the positives are be
ing highlighted.
Once you look beyond all the shutouts
and the two total wins of last season, you
might see a group of young women with
an intense desire to win as they play in
the toughest conference in soccer. Then
add to that one of the toughest schedules
in the country.
Sure, the schedule could be easier. And
sure, the athletics department could fire
head coach Bill Steffen because of difficul
ties leading his program over the past sev
en years. And sure, the recruiting could be
better as well.
But those things won't change Why? Ore
gon will not cheat its way to the top by tak
ing the easy road. And maybe because some
one else out there sees potential in a team
that has received more criticism than former
Turn to THOMAS, page 18
Oregon State,
Ducks ready
for 88th battle
The Ducks travel to Corvallis to take on the
Beavers in search of their first Pac-10 win
By Jon Roetman
Sports Reporter
DUCK
VOLLEYBALL
The Oregon volleyball team has mixed viewpoints as it heads
to Corvallis tonight to take on Oregon State.
For the nine freshmen on the Oregon roster, the Beavers simply
present another opponent and another chance for the Ducks to
pick up their first Pacific-10 Conference win of the season.
"I know there's kind of a rivalry there," said freshman Sarah Ma
son, a native of Hilo, Hawaii. "But I'm not really worried about it."
For the five returning athletes on the Duck roster, tonight's 88th
installment of the Civil War is about pride and the chance to win
on the Beavers' home court for the second year in a row.
"We're so pumped," sophomore Jaclyn Jones said. "I can't wait
to get there and beat them. That was our one
win last year, so I'm going to be there with
good memories."
Oregon head coach Carl Ferreira said re
gardless of how each athlete views the Civil
War, tonight's match presents an excellent -
chance for a win. The Ducks (3-10 overall, 0
4 Pac-10) have stayed competitive against some of the nation's elite
and will enter Corvallis as a confident team.
"We've started Pac-10 play with the No, 1, 4, 8 and (12th)
ranked teams in the country," Ferreira said. "Now we play our in
state rival and there's a lot of significance to playing an in-state ri
valry match."
Ferreira also had former Oregon quarterback Chris Miller address
the team on Wednesday about the importance of the Civil War.
"I think it's awesome," said Ferreira about having the former
NFL quarterback share his thoughts. "If you can (listen to) experi
enced alumni that have been there and done that and understand
the process, that's always great."
Like the Ducks, Oregon State is looking for its first Pac-10 win.
The Beavers (10-6, 0-4) come into tonight's game after beating
Portland 3-0 on Tuesday. The Pilots handled the Ducks, 3-1, Sept.
23 in Portland.
Turn to VOLLEYBALL, page 18
Emerald
Junior Lauren Westendorf had 13 kills in last year’s win over Oregon State.
Adam Amato Photo Editor
Qoafoeeperfmily Mairer fs-one of four true freshmen on the squad. As a
prep player, she posted 54 shutouts.
UO newcomers bring
experience to table
Oregon welcomes six new
players to the soccer team this
year, which now has a total
of 17 underclassmen
By Jesse Thomas
Sports Reporter
The Ducks soccer squad is new this year.
New and young, for that matter.
Of the 14 different starters in 2003,
only one is a senior. Oregon has wel
comed six newcomers this year, two
transfers and four
true freshmen. Red
shirt junior Erin En- 1"% UP CUr HL
gelhardt and red
shirt freshman
Sabrina DeMonte
both bring experience as transfers.
Engelhardt brings her talents to Eugene
after a two-year stint at Virginia, where in
her sophomore year she helped lead the
Cavaliers to the NCAA tournament after
tallying three goals and six assists.
The Hasbrouck, N.J., native is looking to
bring her NCAA experience to Oregon and
help lead the Ducks into their first post
season appearance. ...
“It's a real goal for this team," she said.
"I'm just trying to bring that type of compet
itiveness I experienced playing at Virginia."
That competitiveness as a Cavalier only
lasted for two years because Engelhardt
took a year off for a break. But now, Ore
gon seems to be the right fit.
"I enjoyed my time (at Virginia)," En
gelhardt said. "I felt like I needed a
change. Oregon just seemed right. I'm
having a great time. It's really a great
bunch of girls."
DeMonte, who transferred to Oregon in
winter 2003 after spending her previous
time at I Iarbor Junior College, is playing
soccer for the first time at the college level.
With prep experience that includes be
ing team captain, athlete of the year and
leading scorer with 15 goals and 11 assists
in 2002, DeMonte could have a strong im
part at a young age.
Oregon's four true freshmen include
are goalkeeper Emily Marrer of Glendale,
Ariz.; midfielder Dana Richardson of
Vancouver, B.C.; midfielder Rachel
Grushkin of Eureka, Calif., and Eugene
native Kaily Winther.
Galas is a Duck at heart
Assistant coach John Galas can't seem to
* get enough-of Oregon, *
Turn to SOCCER, page 17