Sports Editor.
Hank Hager
hankhager@dailyemerald.com
Monday, October 6, 2003
Oregon Daily Emerald
SPORTS
Best bet
NFL: Indianapolis
at Tampa Bay
6 p.m., ABC
Mindi Rice
The girl and the game
Oregon
should
'show off
new Howe
Imagine parking on University Street
between McArthur Court and East 18th
Avenue without worry of a broken
windshield or dented car during soft
ball season.
Think of sitting right behind home
plate — just behind the fence, on
field level, in the fust row — watch
ing the Ducks host an NCAA softball
tournament.
Now picture a different view to left
field — those hills might not be seen
from the new location — and even a
new scoreboard.
In a backward sort of way, this new
basketball arena plan is working out
to be a sweet deal for more than a few
college hoopsters.
The chosen site for the "new Mac
Court" — the area just southeast of
the existing facility — is home to,
among other things, the Oregon soft
ball team's Howe Field.
Taking that space for the arena means
relocating softball to an area yet to be de
termined. And while the space is being
chosen, the requests come flooding in
for location, amenities and outfield view.
The first request that women's soft
ball head coach Kathy Arendsen and I
agree on is that the new field meets
NCAA eligibility for hosting a regional
tournament.
"I'm hoping that we will make sure we
are eligible," Arendsen said after the are
na decision was announced on Saturday.
"That's including lights, and there's min
imum seating allowances to that."
With the coaching and playi ng levels
of the softball team on par with the Pa
cific-10 Conference — the best softball
conference in the nation — it's time for
a stadium that is eligible to host NCAA
tournaments. It will benefit and show
case the school, the athletic depart
ment and the Eugene community.
Another request Arendsen had —
and I agree with this one as well — is
proximity to campus. That's the biggest
issue of all.
"We definitely want to be accessible
to students," Arendsen said. "I think
that's one of the strengths of Howe —
students can easily walk up. So I'm
hoping that will still be the case."
As it stands now, Howe is in an op
portune spot on campus. Students on
their way home to the South Univer
sity community can stop by and catch
an inning of softball. Other student
athletes on their way to or from prac
tice and training rooms can support
their softball counterparts.
Unfortunately, the chosen location
may spot the new softball digs in the
Autzen Stadium realm — with
women's soccer and lacrosse nearby.
"We're just starting to look at
potential space we currently own,"
Athletics Director Bill Moos said
Turn to RICE, page 9
Utes frustrate Oregon in close game
Oregon is held scoreless in the
second half as Utah pulls out a
win in front of a large home crowd
By Mindi Rice
Senior Sports Reporter
The defense held steady, giving Utah two
touchdowns and a field goal.
The Oregon offense, however, failed to be the
point-scoring machine that it had been for the
season's first four weeks.
Although the season is entering its seventh
week for the Ducks, they return to the Pacific-10
Conference after a 17-13 defeat in Utah's Rice
Eccles Stadium.
"When it's a close game and you know you had
chances to win that are
probably four or five plays
on both sides of the ball,
then we say 'gee, if we had CQQTD AI
only made those plays we _
could have won this game,'"
Oregon head coach Mike Bellotti said in a tele
conference on Sunday.
Oregon (4-2 overall, 1-1 Pac-10) was in the
game early, putting the first points on the board
with a 42-yard field goal by Jared Siegel midway
through the first quarter. The short-lived lead si
lenced the crowd of 44,676 fans — the sixth
largest crowd in the stadium's history.
The Utes answered in the same quarter with a
28-yard field goal by Brian Borreson — the only
field goal he made in three attempts.
In the second quarter, the Ducks looked like
the Oregon of old as they took the lead with 10
points in four minutes.
After a successful fake punt on fourth down,
quarterback Kellen Clemens threw a long pass to
Sarnie Parker to get Oregon to the two-yard line.
Following an incomplete pass, Clemens ran
around the right side and dove in for the Ducks'
only touchdown of the day and a 10-3 lead.
When Utah came back on offense, corner
back Steven Moore stripped a Utah receiver of
the ball to bring the Oregon offense back on the
field. The Ducks capped their scoring with a 40
yard field goal by Siegel.
The Utes narrowed the lead to 13-10 on a 69-yard
Mark McCambridge Senior Photographer
Terrence Whitehead gained 40 yards on 18 carries on the ground against Utah on Friday.
loucnaown pass rrom Alex j>mitn to Meve savoy.
"We need to come back with greater attention
to detail," Bellotti said. "We did some things on
both sides of the ball that allowed them to
bring it back."
On the offensive side, the Ducks sank during
the second half. At one point, four straight drives
by Clemens resulted in punts, and Oregon didn't
score after halftime.
Defensively, the Ducks held for most of the
half. I lowever, the 13-10 lead wasn't safe.
Shortly after the fourth quarter began, Smith
found Ben Moa open for a nine-yard touchdown
pass. Borreson's successful point gave the Utes the
17-13 lead.
"I was not pleased with the way we blocked at
the line of scrimmage," Bellotti said. "Either at the
Turn to FOOTBALL, page 9
OREGON 13, UTAH 17
First downs: Oregon 16, Utah 21
Rushing attempts-yards: Oregon 32-80,
Utah: 44126
Passing attempts-completions-yards:
Oregon 34-16-277, Utah: 38-25-340
Penalties: Number-yards: Oregon 5-35,
Utah: 5-35
Possession time: Oregon 25 minutes, 4
seconds, Utah 34:56
Sacks by: Number-yards: Oregon 2-12,
Utah 5-25
Rushing
Oregon: Terrence Whitehead, 18 carries,
40 yards; Jason Fife, 3-26, Kellen Taylor, 1-7,
Kenny Washington, 14, Kellen Clemens, 9-3;
Utah: Brandon Warfield, 22-74; Paris Warren,
5-32; Mike Liti, 3-10; Alex Smith, 14-10.
Passing
Oregon: Kellen Clemens, 24 attempts, 12
completions, 0 interceptions; Jason Fife, 9-3-1
Paul Martinez, 1-1-0;
Utah: Alex Smith, 38-25-0
Receiving
Oregon: Demetrius Williams, 4 catches, 89
yards; Sarnie Parker, 4-86; Kellen Taylor, 4-39;
Marcus Maxwell, 1-28; Dante Rosario, 1-21;
Dan Kause, 1-10; Terrence Whitehead, 14
Utah: Paris Warren, 10-54; Steve Savoy, 6-176;
Ben Moa, 4-73; Travis LaTendresse, 3-25;
Brandon Warfield, 2-12.
Young Ducks pace Oregon in weekend play
Dominika Dieskova and
Thomas Bieri impress
in their matches against
top opponents this weekend
Alex Tam
Freelance Reporter
The future of Oregon women's and
men's tennis appears hill of optimism af
ter two of the younger Ducks — fresh
man Dominika_
Dieskova and | j. ^
sophomore WOMENS
Thomas Bieri - TENNIS
performed well _
over the weekend
in their first showings of the season.
With disappointing seasons last year
for both the men's and women's tennis
teams, it was important to get off to a
good start and have a positive outlook for
the upcoming year.
Dieskova defeated Laura Nigro of Air
Force, 6-4 and 6-3, in her first-round
matchup at the Riviera/ITA Women's All
American Championships in Los Angeles
on Saturday. In the second round of the
qualifiers, the Duck freshman almost
pulled out another win after defeating
Maria Brito of Clemson on the first set.
However, Dieskova lost the last two
sets to Brito to finish the match 5-7, 6-3
and 6-4. It was an impressive first show
ing for Dieskova, who showed she will
have an impact on the future of Oregon
tennis. She also is the one to reckon
with currently.
"It's great for Dominika to get her feet
wet against top competition," women's
tennis second-year head coach Nils Schyl
lander said in a press release. "She proved
right away that she's going to be a great
collegiate player. She's just going to get
better and better."
All-American senior Courtney Nagle
will compete on Tuesday in the prequali
fying round and the reigning Pac-10
Women's Player of the Year Daria Panova
will begin play on Thursday in the singles
main draw.
According to preseason singles rank
ings issued by the Intercollegiate Ten
nis Association, Panova is currently
ranked No. 7 in the nation and Nagle
is ranked 35th.
The women's team will participate in
Turn to TENNIS, page 10
"It's great
for Dominika
to get
her feet wet
against top
competition.
She's going
to be a great
collegiate
player."
Nils Schylander
Women’s tennis
head coach