Ducks Shutout Bulldogs

Oregon concludes its trip to the Inland Empire with a 1:00 PM match Sunday at Eastern Washington.

Photo courtesy: goducks.com

SPOKANE, Wash. - Nicole Garbin scored with 4:04 remaining in the game to lift Oregon to a 1-0 victory over Gonzaga Friday at Martin Field.

Freshman Melissa Buich set up the goal by feeding a pass through the left side of the Bulldog defense near midfield to Garbin, who went to work from there.

The senior from Wailuku, Hawaii, dribbled past her defender to set up a one-on-one against Zags’ goalkeeper Jessie Thalman, who had stoned Garbin in a similar situation in the first half.

Garbin curved a hard shot from 10 yards out that went off Thalman’s fingertips and rolled over the goal line for the game-winner.

It was Garbin’s 24th career goal and 15th career game-winning goal.

The Ducks became the first non-conference team to win at Martin Field in almost three years. The last non-league team to defeat Gonzaga at home was Brigham Young (4-0) on Sept. 23, 2003. This was the Ducks’ first trip to Spokane since a 3-3 tie in 1996.

The win was Oregon’s third in a row and leveled the team’s record at 3-3-0. Gonzaga, a 2005 NCAA Tournament team, dropped to 3-3-1.

Oregon’s defensive line limited Gonzaga to seven shots. Freshman goalkeeper Emily Zaler, from Scottsdale, Ariz., made three saves in earning her first career shutout as a Duck.

Garbin led Oregon with five shots, while Jen Cameron and Dani Oster each attempted two. For the game, the Ducks out-shot Gonzaga 12-7.

Neither team could muster much in the way on offense in a scoreless first half. The Ducks attempted four shots, three by Garbin, while Gonzaga had three.

GAME NOTES: Buich recorded the first assist of her career...Garbin now shows 195 career shots, needing just five more to become the first Duck to reach 200 career shots...she also inched closer to the UO career lead in goals (24, 7 behind Chalise Baysa’s 31) and points (62, 7 behind Baysa’s 69)...junior Tiffany Smith saw her first action of 2006, starting at forward...the Eugene, Ore., native missed the first five games of the year recovering from off-season ankle surgery...freshman midfielder Rianna Mansfied missed her third straight game due to a sore hip flexor.

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