Oregon 2007 Soccer Schedule Features Eight NCAA Tournament Teams

Oregon went 12-6-2 in 2006 and finished second in the Pac-10 with a 6-1-2 record.

Senior Tiffany Smith and the Ducks will play eight NCAA Tournament teams in 2007.

EUGENE, Ore. - The Oregon women’s soccer team will play eight NCAA Tournament teams among its 20 regular season contests on the 2007 schedule that was released Tuesday.

Among those are Portland, Purdue, Utah and Final Four participant UCLA.

The other four NCAA teams on Oregon’s schedule are California, Stanford, USC and Nevada.

“Taking into consideration what happened to us last season, I wanted to play tougher non-conference teams,” said Oregon head coach Tara Erickson. “Hopefully if we’re in the same situation, that will give us more a favorable resume for the NCAA selection committee to consider.”

Oregon went 12-6-2 in 2006 and finished second in the Pac-10 with a 6-1-2 record but was stunned by the NCAA selection committee’s decision not to invite the Ducks to the NCAA Tournament.

It was the first time in history that a team that placed second in the Pac-10, the nation’s No. 2-ranked RPI conference, did not receive an NCAA tournament bid.

“We’ll remember what happened to us last year and use that as motivation, but at the same time we can’t dwell on it,” said Erickson. “We’re playing for a Pac-10 championship and those nine games are always the most important games on our schedule.”

The Ducks will open the 2007 season Aug. 31 at Nevada and follow that with another game in Reno, Nev., versus Boise State on Sept. 2.

Oregon’s home opener is Sept. 7 against UC Riverside.

The Ducks then host Montana at Pape’ Field Sept. 9 before embarking on a difficult four-game road trip between Sept. 14-23 that has Oregon playing at Utah State, Utah, Purdue and Illinois State.

Oregon returns home for its final three non-conference games -- Portland State on Sept. 30, Portland on Oct. 5 and Gonzaga on Oct. 7.

Pac-10 play gets underway Oct. 12 at UCLA and Oct. 14 at USC. The rest of the Pac-10 docket includes Arizona State and Arizona at home Oct. 19-21, at Washington State (Oct. 26) and Washington (Oct. 28), the Civil War Nov. 2 in Corvallis and Stanford (Nov. 9) and California (Nov. 11) in Eugene to wrap up the season.

The first day of fall practice is slated for Aug. 15.

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