Oregon Daily Emerald
Monday, October 31, 2005
“Whoever said, ‘It’s not whether you
win or lose that counts’ probably lost. ”
Tennis legend Martina Navratilova,
who won 58 Grand Slam events.
■ Duck soccer
Oregon beats Huskies
for first time in history
Nicole Garbin's first-half goal and Jessie Chatfield's nine saves
help lead the Ducks to a long-awaited victory over Washington
BY SCOTT J. ADAMS
SPORTS REPORTER
The Oregon women’s soccer team beat
Washington for the first time in program his
tory Friday night in Seattle. Senior Nicole
Garbin led the Ducks with the game’s only
goal that clinched both a 1-0 win for Oregon
and the team’s second non-losing season in
school history.
Those written into Oregon’s 2005 roster
may have earned their place in the school
record books, but Friday’s victory at rainy
Husky Soccer Field did not come with ease.
The win was still in doubt even after Garbin’s
first-half goal in the 36th minute.
Washington’s defense held Oregon score
less from then, but the Huskies could not put
a shot past goalkeeper Jessie Chatfield of the
Ducks. Chatfield’s nine saves helped seal her
team’s first conference win since 2003.
The shut-out marked a school-record
seventh of the season for the freshman
goalkeeper, whose solid net-minding in the
second half was crucial in handing the
Huskies their eighth 1-0 loss this year (0-15-3
overall, 0-6 conference).
“Late in the second half, we were getting a
little anxious because you could tell Washing
ton was getting frantic and throwing every
thing they had at us,” first-year Oregon head
coach Tara Erickson said. “But Jessie was as
calm and steady as usual and made the big
saves when she had to.”
The Eugene phenom ended the second half
with four saves. Two of which came from
consecutive shots which she deflected off the
cross bar.
The preserved lead made Garbin’s goal the
game-winner, bringing her school-record ca
reer total to 10. She now has 10 goals to her
credit alone this season, also a school record.
The standout forward has had a goal or assist
in almost every Oregon win this year.
“Garbin played a tremendous game and
Jessie (Chatfield) came up with some huge
saves for us,” Erickson said. “This is as happy
as this team has been after a win. It’s great to
get any win, but getting the first one ever
against the Huskies was sweet both for me
and for these University of Oregon players
who had never beaten Washington before.”
Erickson had been looking forward to Fri
day’s game against her almamater Washing
ton. Erickson was a two-time all-Pacific-10
Conference midfielder for the Huskies in
1990s and is now the only Oregon head coach
in program history to have a win over Wash
ington. The Ducks were 0-8-1 in their previ
ous nine meetings with their rivals from The
Evergreen State.
The win improved Oregon to 9-6-1 on the
season, moving them into ninth in the
conference standings at 1-5. Erickson is
pleased with how well her squad has im
proved since its season-opening win against
Louisiana State.
“I’m glad that we’re finally playing more
aggressively,” Erickson said. “When we get
down we don’t stay down. We’ve battled back
in games we were losing early which wasn’t
Marcus Larson | For the Emerald
Oregon forward Nicole Garbin (17) fights for a loose ball against Oregon State on Oct. 21. Garbin scored the
game-winning goal Friday at Washington to help the Ducks earn their first Pacific-10 Conference victory of the season.
the case for this team a year ago. We may not
always play our best, but we never give up.”
The Ducks are now past the mid-point of
conference play with only two games left in
the regular season. Oregon is guaranteed a
record of at least .500, but to help their cause
toward becoming the first team in program
history to reach the NCAAs, they will need to
pull off an upset against the Bay Area schools
of the Pac-10 this weekend. Oregon hosts
No. 9 Cal at 5 p.m. Friday and Stanford at
lp.m. Sunday.
sadams@ daily emerald, com
■ Women's basketball
Nurse provides youth on a senior-dominated team
The Ducks hope a revamped coaching staff and an experienced team
will result in a winning season and an NCAA Tournament berth
BY JEFFREY DRANSFELDT
SPORTS REPORTER
The attraction of playing in the Pacific-10
Conference, one of the nation’s largest confer
ences, extended beyond the basketball court.
Playing on the highest level of collegiate
basketball, dynamic and quick point guard
Tamika Nurse welcomes the attention.
Naturally then, off the court she is pursuing
a broadcast career, which was a big reason
why she chose the University of Oregon.
“For broadcast journalism this is the best
school on the west coast — there’s no ques
tion about it,” Nurse said.
The 5-foot-9 native of Hamilton, Ontario,
enters the 2005-06 season as Oregon’s
lone freshman. She gets her first experience
tonight as Oregon plays the British
Columbia in an exhibition game at 7 p.m. at
McArthur Court.
Nurse played for the Canadian Junior Na
tional Team for two consecutive years, includ
ing the FIBA Under-19 World Championships
as she helped them finish ninth.
She's considered by Oregon head coach
Bev Smith as one of Oregon’s fastest guards in
years. The most important thing is effectively
running the team and not solely relying on
quickness, Nurse said.
“I think my speed is a weapon,” Nurse said.
“It needs to be harnessed at times, but I want
to use it to my advantage. ”
Or adding more options, assistant coach
Phil Brown said.
“She has flat out speed, but she’s going to
need to get some other gears in there as well
and know when to go and know when to pull
it up and pull it back and recognize the de
fense’s numbers back and we’re in a half
court situation,” Brown said.
Nurse has plenty of help with a veteran
lineup and coaches including new assistant
coach Brown. Brown has worked with 15 cur
rent or former WNBA players, including
guards Penny Taylor and Belinda Snell and
current Oregon players Eleanor Haring and
Gabrielle Richards.
According to Brown, getting used to this
level of basketball takes time.
“Part of it is trial and error experience,”
Brown said. “Just getting out there and the
day-to-day environment of playing at the top
Division I level.”
Senior guards Brandi Davis, Chelsea Wagn
er and Kedzie Gunderson can help provide a
solid learning environment.
“I think Tamika is going to be a great play
er,” Davis said. “She’s going to mature a lot
here and she's going to have a great career
here. By us being able to help her out with the
little things and stuff like that ... it’s only go
ing to help her in the long run.”
Oregon’s roster has a veteran feel. The team
has an opportunity to develop chemistry
within McArthur Court’s confines with five of
its first six official games and two exhibition
games at home. The only away game is a
Nov. 22 trip to play the University of Portland.
In December, Oregon has no home games,
playing road games against Cynthia Cooper’s
Prairie View A&M at the Rose Garden, Saint
Mary’s, Idaho State, UCLA, USC and Col
orado. It is a schedule designed to prepare
Oregon for a possible NCAA Tournament.
Last season, Oregon had a 21-win season
and reached the second round of the NCAA
Tournament, beating TCU before losing to
eventual NCAA champion Baylor.
“We all expect to win,” Davis said. “I know
that’s going to come with a price. It’s going to
be a lot of hard work for us, and I think we
have great team chemistry this year and I
think we’re capable of doing something big.”
Davis is a versatile three-point threat and
adept scorer. She is third all-time at Oregon in
three-pointers with 145 and was Oregon’s
fourth-leading scorer at 7.6 points per game
last season.
The three other Oregon seniors should also
play significant roles. Wagner returns after her
2004-05 season was cut to 15 games due to a
knee injury. She shot 40 percent on three
pointers and averaged 8.8 points. Gunderson
is a standout defender who has started 47 of
her last 57 games at Oregon. Yadili Okwum
abua enters the season after undergoing off
season knee surgery. She’s expected to have a
larger role after Cathrine Kraayeveld and An
drea Bills graduated.
Technically, Oregon has a fifth senior in
Jamie Hawkins, but she will redshirt this sea
son after transferring from Boise State.
Oregon’s talented underclassmen are expe
rienced and should make a significant impact
with four juniors and three sophomores.
Kristen Forristall emerged toward the mid
dle of last season as eight of her 11 starts were
in Pac-10 Conference play. Forristall earned
recognition as a member of the Pac-10 All
Freshman team by averaging 5.5 points and
3.2 rebounds.
Junior Carolyn Ganes and sophomore
Richards are considered low-post players, but
each has the outside touch of a guard.
Ganes gained experience over the summer
with the Canadian National Team. She returns
healthy after being a redshirt in 2004-05 and
dealing with ankle injuries and back problems
the year before. Ganes shot 41 percent overall
in 2003-04 and 84 percent from the free-throw
line. Richards shot 44 percent overall and 35
percent from three-point range in 2004-05.
Now in her third season, 6-foot-6 junior
Jessica Shetters should factor in as well after
BASKETBALL, page 6