■ Duck soccer
Ducks can't nail
win to end season
Seniors Christine Mintz and Kelly Baird, with a
combined 98 starts, ended their Oregon careers Sunday
BY BRIAN SMITH
SPORTS REPORTER
The Oregon women’s soccer team
tried its best to send off seniors Kelly
Baird and Christine Mintz with a win
in the final weekend of the 2004 sea
son but came up empty.
The Ducks came close on Friday
night, recording a 1-1 tie against Ari
zona State, and ended up losing to
newly crowned co-Pacific-10 Confer
ence champion Arizona 2-0 on Sunday.
The weekend results dropped the
Ducks to 3-13-3 overall and 0-7-2 in
the Pac-10 for the season. For the first
time since the program attained var
sity status in 1996, the Ducks were
held winless in conference play.
More important than the loss to Ari
zona were the final collegiate match
es of Mintz and Baird. Junior forward
Mele French and senior team manager
Kim Paiement were also honored in a
brief ceremony during team introduc
tions on Sunday. French ended her ca
reer earlier this season after battling
recurring concussions and problems
with migraines. Paiement has worked
with the Oregon team for the past four
years. She assisted the Oregon coach
ing staff by overseeing the team’s
equipment needs and various travel
issues.
“It’s bittersweet to say good-bye
with a loss,” Baird said. “I’ll really
miss the girls on the team. We’ve been
close in the outcome of almost every
game, but regardless (of the score),
the chemistry has been unbelievable.”
Oregon falls to Arizona
The Ducks had a chance to ruin
the Wildcats’ first-ever shot at a con
ference title on Sunday. Arizona
needed a win against Oregon to
clinch a tie with No. 14 UCLA after
losing to Oregon State 1-0 on Friday.
The Wildcats got on the board ear
ly with a goal by Candice Wilks from
six yards in the 10th minute. The sen
ior forward collected the ball from 20
yards wide right of the goal and
worked her way through a couple of
Oregon defenders before her shot
found the right corner of the net.
Oregon had a couple of chances to
respond in the first half, including a
shot from freshman Kami Kapaku in
the 27th minute that scooted just
wide of the goal.
However, the Ducks spent most of
the day playing defense and looking for
chances to get back in the match. For
the day, Arizona led in shots (15-5), cor
ner kicks (5-3) and shots on goal (7-4).
“Today we were a little bit out of it
and-never established a flow in our
play,” Oregon head coach Bill Steffen
said. “We worked hard and got some
chances, but we didn’t get any of the
breaks. We were on the outside look
ing and waiting for something to hap
pen, but it never did.”
The Wildcats added an insurance
goal in the 47th minute when Ari
zona defender Vanesha Bailey took a
19-yard shot from the right that
arched into the left corner of the net.
“It’s frustrating because we want
ed to win our last game,” Mintz said.
“But unfortunately, it’s a fitting end
to the way the season has gone. We
haven’t had any luck (all year).”
Ducks pull even with Sun
Devils on penalty kick
On Friday, Oregon fell behind to Ari
zona State in much the same fashion
as in the game against Arizona: early.
In the 10th minute of the match,
Arizona State’s Katie Leahy won a
battle for the ball against Baird in the
right comer of the field. Baird tried to
stay with Leahy, but slipped. Leahy
took a shot from 15 yards left that
Oregon goalkeeper Domenique
Lainez deflected, but the ball still
dribbled into the net.
“I thought I could beat her (to the
ball), and I overestimated,” Baird
said Friday.
The Ducks answered with a penal
ty kick by junior midfielder Cristan
Higa in the 67th minute. Higa’s kick
went right while Arizona State’s goal
keeper Kim Bingham went left.
bnammith@dnilyemerald.com
Nicole Barker | Photographer
Oregon junior midfielder Cristan Higa scored the Ducks' lone goal of the weekend during their draw against Arizona State Friday as Oregon
finished the 2004 soccer season with a 3-13-3 overall record. Oregon fell 2-0 to Arizona during its final match of the season Sunday.
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