EUGENE, Ore. - The first season under new head coach Tracy Joyner for Oregon women’s soccer was a rocky one. While the Ducks started the season on a high note, the team struggled to find the back of the net at home and convert shots to goals. However, despite the team’s struggles, players bought into Joyner’s plan, which paid off in the season finale, where Oregon secured a win in front of its home crowd.
The Ducks finished the season with three wins, ten losses, and five draws, while finishing Big Ten conference play with one win, six losses, and four draws.
In the season opener, on Aug. 14, the team defeated Weber State 4-0 at home, with two goals coming off the boot of Taylor Bryan.
“I feel like we just came with a mindset of just a clean slate,” Bryan said after the season opener. “We’re not who we were last year, with a whole bunch of new talent and a whole bunch of new faces and just a different type of grit.”
After a scoreless draw to Portland, the team headed to Hawaii to partake in the OUTRIGGER Soccer Kickoff tournament. It was in paradise where the team picked up its first loss against Sacramento State, dropping the match 1-0. However, the Ducks rebounded, defeating Hawaii 3-0, led by a goal from sophomore Hawaii native Carly Cormack.
“Carly played fantastic and was rewarded with a goal in front of all her family and friends,” said Joyner after the Hawaii match. "She's been working very hard – I'm so happy for her and our team.”
Then, the Ducks’ offensive luck ran dry. Oregon dropped its next five matches, against New Mexico, Grand Canyon, Seattle U, UCLA, and Illinois. Despite taking 84 shots, 30 of which came against Grand Canyon, the Ducks only found the back of the net once, in their match versus Seattle U.
“I feel really, really good about how we're playing,” Joyner said after the Illinois game. “We're in every game. We're fighting for it, and we're creating great chances, and we're being hard to beat defensively. And we just can't quite get it in the goal."
The team put its first point in conference play on the standings, in a scoreless draw against Northwestern. But, couldn’t keep the ball rolling against Purdue, dropping the game 3-0. Three second-half goals against Indiana weren’t enough to find the win column either, in a 3-3 draw.
Returning home to take on former Pac-12 foe USC couldn’t help the Ducks to a win, as they came up short 1-0. Oregon then traveled east, dropping its match against Ohio State 1-0, and, despite Cormack’s two first-half goals, the Ducks let two by, resulting in a 2-2 draw against Penn State.
A three-game home stand to end the season was much needed for the bruised-up Ducks, struggling with injuries. The first match against, at the time, number 15 Wisconsin was a 1-0 loss. Then, the Ducks held Minnesota scoreless, but couldn’t find the back of the net themselves, in a 0-0 draw.
However, Oregon’s season ended on a high note, defeating its rival up north, the No. 8-ranked Washington Huskies, at home 2-1. After Carly Cormack scored the first goal at Papé Field since the home opener, the Huskies tied it up early in the second half.
Following a red card issued to Washington, the Ducks took advantage, and Lauren Kenny tapped the ball into the net in the 88th minute. It gave Oregon its first home win since the season opener against the team that already clinched the Big Ten regular season title. Kenny was subsequently named the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week to cap off the season.
“We never stopped believing in each other,” Cormack said postgame. “Our huge thing is remembering why we started playing soccer because we love it. It doesn't have to be this stressful thing, and we can just play it because we love the game and we love each other.”
The team now looks to the future. With Joyner securing her first Big Ten season under her belt, the Ducks can only look up.
“I think that everyone knows that this program is just going to be something that's on the rise,” Joyner said after the final match of the season. “I know that [Oregon’s] a desirable place for recruits and players to be.”