Pac-10 Leading Ducks Face Washington, Washington State

Oregon is 7-3 this season in games played away from Eugene and just 1-2 at home in 2006.

Photo: University of Oregon

EUGENE - Following a history-making trip to Arizona that left the Ducks 2-0 in the Pac-10 for the first time ever, Oregon returns to Eugene to open a three-game home stand. That stretch begins on Friday with Washington in a 7:00 PM game. Then it’s Washington State on Sunday at 1:00 PM.

HISTORY MAKING WEEKEND:

By winning at the Arizona schools last weekend, the Ducks notched a number of significant marks. Here’s a brief rundown:

* Oregon defeated a top 25 team for just the second time in program history, and for the first time ever on the road, when it defeated No. 24 Arizona on Oct. 6. In 41 meetings with top 25 teams, Oregon’s only previous defeat of a ranked team was a 2-1 win against No. 20 UCLA, Oct. 31, 1999, in Eugene.

* Oregon swept a Pac-10 series for just the second time in school history and for the first time ever on the road. The Ducks swept the Arizona schools in Eugene in 1998.

* UO opened Pac-10 play 2-0 for the first time in school history.

GARBIN NAMED PAC-10 PLAYER OF THE WEEK:

Senior forward Nicole Garbin has been named the Pac-10 Women’s Soccer Player of the Week for Oct. 3-9, Commissioner Tom Hansen announced. Garbin, a native of Wailuku, Hawaii, became Oregon’s career points leader while leading Oregon to its first Pac-10 road sweep in school history.

Garbin scored all of Oregon’s goals over the weekend, two in a 2-1 win at Arizona on Friday and a third in a 1-0 shutout at Arizona State on Sunday. Her six points over the weekend brought her career total to 73 (29 goals, 15 assists), passing Chalise Baysa (69 points, 1998-2001) for first place on Oregon’s career list. The sixth-year senior’s two goals against the Wildcats was the fifth multi-goal performance of her career, another Oregon record.

Garbin’s five game-winning goals are tied with UCLA’s Lauren Cheney for the Conference lead and her seven total goals ranks second in the Pac-10.

This is Garbin’s second career player of the week award and the fifth all-time for Oregon. Garbin’s previous win came in 2003 during her sophomore year. She is the first Duck to win multiple Player of the Week honors.

GARBIN NABS UO CAREER POINTS RECORD:

With a pair of goals last Friday versus No. 24 Arizona, Nicole Garbin became Oregon’s all-time leader in points, passing Chalise Baysa who accumulated 69 points (31G, 7A) from 1998-2001. The sixth-year senior added another goal Sunday versus Arizona State and now shows 73 points on 29 goals and 15 assists.

Now the owner of 15 school records (see next note), Garbin is also just two goals away from Baysa’s school record. Garbin also now leads the Pac-10 in shots (58) and shots per game (4.46), and is tied for first in game-winning goals (5).

GARBIN’S 15 SCHOOL RECORDS:

Senior forward Nicole Garbin picked up her 14th and 15th Oregon records on Oct. 6 when she set the school career points record and also recorded her fifth career multi-goal game. She now holds or shares 7 UO career records: game-winning goals, penalty kick goals, multi-goal games, assists, game-winning assists, points and shots. The Wailuku, Hawaii, native also holds or shares 7 Oregon single season records: goals, game-winning goals, penalty kick goals, assists, game-winning assists, points and shots. Her 15th school record is consecutive games scoring a goal (3).

Ranking first or second in virtually every career offensive category at Oregon, Garbin is making a bid for national honors. In the spring, the two-time All-Pac-10 selection was granted a rare sixth year of eligibility by the NCAA. She now shows seven goals and one assist on the season.

GAME BREAKER:

Since her career began in 2001, the Ducks are 34-32-3 when Nicole Garbin takes the field, and 5-28-5 when she has been injured or missed games due to a red card.

CHATFIELD, DUCKS CONTINUE STRONG DEFENSE:

Oregon’s defense notched its sixth shutout of the season (one shy of the school record set last year) Oct. 8 versus Arizona State. The Ducks also recently posted back-to-back shutouts for the second time in 2006. Freshman Emily Zaler notched three of those shutouts (Gonzaga, Eastern Washington, Idaho). Then Jessie Chatfield, back from a broken suffered Sept. 8th versus New Hampshire, shut out Portland State 1-0 in double-overtime on Sept. 29th. It marked the fifth time in school history that the Ducks have posted back-to-back shutouts. Four of those five consecutive shutouts have come under coach Tara Erickson in the last two seasons.

MORE ON THE D:

Just over halfway through the season, Oregon is holding opponents to less than a goal a game (0.91 GAA). That’s well below the school record 1.36 GAA set in 1999. The Ducks have also allowed just 12 goals this season, on pace to beat the previous defensive best of 27 goals, also set in 1999. Credit that to a defense that should remain in tact through the 2007 season -- junior Dylann Tharp (D), sophomores Jen Cameron (M), Jessie Chatfield (GK), Nicole Dobrzynski (D) and Darcie Gardner (D), and freshmen Danielle Sweeney (D), Emily Zaler (GK), Barbara Blocker (D) and Rianna Mansfield (M).

DEFENSE REMAINS ACTIVE IN OFFENSE:

Oregon’s defense is taking an active role in the team’s offense this season. Nine of Oregon’s 17 assists have come from defensive players -- defensive midfielders Jen Cameron (2) and Rianna Mansfield (1), and defenders Danielle Sweeney (2), Dylann Tharp (2), Nicole Dobrzynski (1) and Barbara Blocker (1). Blocker also has a goal from the back line. The defense has already surpassed last season’s assists output; in 2005, the defenders combined for seven assists over the course of the 19-game season.

SMITH GETS ANOTHER GAME-WINNER:

Junior Tiffany Smith has three career goals -- and all three have been game-winners (tied for third on the UO career list). Smith has two game-winning goals this season -- Eastern Washington and Portland State (in double-overtime). Smith, a Eugene, Ore., native, transferred from PSU prior to the 2005 season. Smith also got the game-winning assist on Nicole Garbin’s score in the 2-1 upset of No. 24 Arizona on Oct. 6.

DUCKS TIE SCORING RECORD:

Between Sept. 3rd and Sept. 29th, Oregon scored at least one goal in eight consecutive games. That matched the school record set over the 1996 and 1997 seasons, and matched last year. Portland put an end to the Ducks’ run with a 3-0 shutout on Oct. 1st.

CHATFIELD NEARLY BREAKS OWN SCORELESS STREAK:

When No. 7 Portland scored on Jessie Chatfield in the 60th minute Oct. 1st, it snapped the second longest individual scoreless streak in school history. Chatfield had not surrendered a goal since early in the second half of the Sept. 3rd Loyola Marymount game. She pitched a shutout in her next outing versus New Hampshire, but also suffered a broken hand late in that game -- sidelining her for the her the next five matches.

The sophomore from Eugene, Ore., came back to get the double-overtime shutout of Portland State on Sept. 29th, and then kept No. 7 Portland at bay for nearly 60 minutes on Oct. 1st. That scoreless span totalled 293:31, which is the second-longest individual streak in Oregon history. Chatfield already owns the school record, 355:47, set last season.

CLOSE GAMES & TOUGH OPPONENTS:

Oregon’s first eight games of 2006 and 11 of 13 overall have been decided by one goal. The Idaho game on Sept. 24th, a 2-0 win, was the Oregon’s first game not decided by a single goal. The Ducks are 7-4 in one goal games this season.

The Ducks’ five losses have come to opponents that continue to play well in 2006. Through Sunday, the combined record of Long Beach State (11-2-1), UC Riverside (7-6-0), Loyola Marymount (7-1-3), Nevada (7-3-1) and Portland (11-2-1) was 43-14-6!

RECORD BOOK UPDATE:

Oregon set a school record by holding Idaho to just one shot attempt on Sept. 24th. It broke the previous record of two shots by Oklahoma in 1996.

OFF I.R. AND MAKING A DIFFERENCE:

Three veterans who either missed time last season or this spring due to injury have come back to the playing field and made vital contributions for the Ducks this fall. Forward Leigh Quinlan and midfielder Jen Cameron returned to varsity action after redshirting the 2005 season due to knee injuries.

Quinlan, a freshman from Victoria, B.C., scored the game-winner Sept. 10th against Iona for her first collegiate goal. Cameron, a sophomore from Tigard, Ore., recorded assists in back-to-back games versus New Hampshire and Iona, including one on the game-winner versus UNH. After missing the first five games of the year recovering from spring ankle surgery, junior forward Tiffany Smith scored the game-winner in just her second appearance of the season, a 1-0 victory at Eastern Washington on Sept. 17th. She then netted the game-winner in double-overtime Sept. 29th at Portland State (1-0). And she added to that with a game-winning assist on Nicole Garbin’s goal in a 2-1 victory over No. 24 Arizona on Oct. 6th.

ZALER, DEFENSE NOTCH SECOND-LONGEST SCORELESS STREAK:

With 2005 Pac-10 all-freshman goalkeeper Jessie Chatfield sidelined for five games with a broken right hand, freshman goalie Emily Zaler and the Oregon defenders stepped up in her absence. The Ducks posted a scoreless streak of 265:00 between the Sept. 10th Iona game and the Sept. 22nd Nevada game, which was the second-longest streak of its kind in school history. The only longer streak, 355:47, was set by the team last season.

NEWTON JOINS ASSISTS RANKS:

With three assists this season, sophomore midfielder Allison Newton has moved into the UO top 10 with five career assists. The Eugene, Ore., native now leads Oregon in assists this season and is second in points with seven (2G, 3A).

SHOOTING DUCKS:

Oregon continues to fire at the opponent’s net. The Ducks are averaging 13.0 shots per game (fifth in the Pac-10) and have outshot the opposition 169-122 on the season. In the second half games this year, the Ducks have really put the pressure on, holding a commanding 104-68 edge in shots.

ZALER THE 10TH ROOKIE TO PLAY IN 2006:

Freshman Emily Zaler became the 10th Oregon newcomer to play in 2006 when she started in goal Sept. 10th versus Iona, making three saves in the 3-2 win. The 10 newcomers who have played for Oregon so far this season are freshmen Barbara Blocker, Teresa Bowns, Melissa Buich, Rianna Mansfield, Dani Oster, Leigh Quinlan, Danielle Sweeney, Megan Watson and Zaler, and sophomore Adriana Montes.

INJURY UPDATE -- CHATFIELD, MANSFIELD RETURN:

All-Pac-10 freshman goalkeeper Jessie Chatfield returned to the pitch Sept. 29th at Portland State, earning the double-overtime shutout win. She missed five matches recovering from a broken right hand she sustained during the second half of the Sept. 8th New Hampshire game.

FR M Rianna Mansfield, the 2005 Oregon state player of the year, also returned to action for the Portland State game and assisted on Tiffany Smith’s game-winner. Mansfield missed the previous six games with a sore hip flexor. Additionally, JR D Dylann Tharp suffered a broken right index finger Sept. 17th at Eastern Washington, but has not missed any action, keeping her streak of 51 consecutive games played (50 straight starts) in tact.

EXTREME RECORDS:

One week after setting the mark for the longest scoreless streak in school history, the Ducks rewrote the record books by scoring the fastest goals ever at Oregon. On Sept. 10th versus Iona, Barbara Blocker and Leigh Quinlan scored goals just 64 seconds apart, beating the previous record by :07 seconds. Also against the Gaels, the Ducks lit up the scoreboard three times in 8:56 to cap the 3-2 comeback win. It was the third-fastest three-goal span in school history.

UPON FURTHER REVIEW:

Freshman defender Barbara Blocker was originally credited with two assists to go along with her goal Sept. 10th versus Iona. But upon video review, the assist on Oregon’s first goal, which was scored by Allison Newton, should have been credited to freshman Teresa Bowns. Bowns received a throw-in and crossed the ball to the left side of the field, where Newton ran onto it and scored, so a correction was made. Blocker still played a large part in that comeback, scoring the tying goal and assisting on Leigh Quinlan’s game-winner and was named to the OSU Soccer Classic all-tournament team.

ONE BIG HAPPY FAMILY:

The opening week of the season was quite eventful for the Erickson family. Oregon head coach Tara Erickson gave birth to daughter Taj Makena on Aug. 23rd. Less than two days after giving birth, she returned to the sideline for the Ducks’ season-opener versus Long Beach State. Erickson then celebrated her 33rd birthday the next day. And four days after Taj Makena’s birth, dad Kraig Erickson competed in Ironman Canada (Penticton, B.C.) and completed the triathlon in 12:34:33, placing 863rd out of 2,352 entrants (2,175 finished).

DUCKS ON THE INTERNET:

Six home games have been picked for internet radio broadcasts on www.goducks.com. The schedule is Long Beach State (8/25), Washington (10/13), Washington State (10/15), Oregon State (10/20), UCLA (11/3) and USC (11/5). John Strong of campus radio station KWVA will call the action.

DUCKS ON TV:

Comcast Cable will broadcast the Nov. 3rd UCLA game on a delayed basis on its cable systems throughout the state. More details on the broadcast will be announced in the coming weeks.

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