Graeme Abel’s message at the start of the season was to not worry about results, there was none bigger result than tonight in Oregon Soccer History. The now 2-0-1 Oregon Ducks took down the defending national champs Stanford Cardinal 2-1 Friday night at a cold and rainy Pape Field.

Oregon, who has never beaten the Cardinal (0-22-1), did it the fashion Graeme Abel preached all week. When teams traditionally lineup against Stanford, who has won two of the three past NCAA Championships, they sit back, defend, and try to grab one lucky goal. Oregon did not. The Ducks played their game from start to end and created superior chances although Stanford had more attempts on target.The Ducks started hot when Eden Hardy powered the ball past Kate Meyer in the 23rd minute for her first goal of the season. Oregon didn’t let up, nearly scoring to start the second half when Ally Cook rounded the keeper but couldn’t finish the opportunity. She got her revenge in the 64th minute when she toe-poked the ball in the lower-left corner after Stanford could not cleanly get rid of it. Stanford had no answer for the Ducks until literally the last second of the game when Civana Kuhlmann scored with 89:59 on the clock.

The historic win against the #1 team in the country cannot be overstated but the Ducks have a quick turnaround against another talented squad in Cal on Sunday at noon.

Audio Story: Coming Soon

Graeme Abel

Leah Freeman

Ally Cook