By: Jack McArthur
The Ducks are set to face off against Colorado in their second in-league matchup of the year. The Oregon Ducks women’s soccer team have not had an ideal season thus far. The Ducks haven’t won a game this season. They currently have a record of 0-7-2, while Colorado has a record of 8-2. Colorado are currently the seventh best team in the Pac-12 record wise, while Oregon are ranked as the worst team. Oregon’s head coach is Graeme Abel, who is in the midst of his fourth season as head coach of the Ducks. Abel is 19-17-18 overall in his tenure with the Ducks so far. Colorado’s head coach is Danny Sanchez. Sanchez has done a great job at the helm thus far in his 12th consecutive year as the head coach of the Colorado Buffaloes. Sanchez has won 59.7% of his games coached for Colorado, with an overall head coaching record of 120-76-31 for the Buffaloes.
The Oregon Ducks are currently ranked as the worst team in the Pac-12, with a record of 0-7-2. Meanwhile, the visiting Colorado Buffalo have an extremely impressive record of 8-2 overall, with just two losses on the season. Colorado were just handed their second loss of the season last Friday, September 22, 2023, against the number five team in the nation in UCLA. Colorado lost the game by two goals, with a final score of 3-1. The Buffaloes only other loss this season came in their second game of the season, when they were shutout 1-0 by Marquette on August 20, 2023. Oregon’s last game was this past Friday, September 22, 2023, when they fell to Arizona on the road with a final score of 3-0. Colorado are 6-2 at home, and they remain undefeated on the road this season with a 2-0 away record. Oregon on the other hand are 0-3 at home, and 0-4-2 on the road.
Despite being nine games in and almost halfway into their season, the Ducks have surprisingly only played one other in conference opponent this season, which was Arizona. Colorado will be the second Pac-12 opponent that the Ducks will play this season. The main reason behind Oregon’s lackluster start to the first half of their season is a clear lack of offense. With only three goals netted this season as a team, Oregon will need to step it up in order to win games. The Oregon Ducks have finished seven out of their first nine games scoreless. In the other two games, they put up two goals in a 2-3 loss to Northern Arizona, and scored one goal which resulted in a 1-1 draw against Boise State. Colorado have scored an astounding 20 goals in 10 games this season, averaging two goals per game. Oregon on the other hand have only scored three goals this season, averaging just .33 goals per game. Despite primarily rolling with a sound 4-3-3 formation, Oregon has looked disorganized as a unit. Especially defensively. They’ll need to retain a compact defense in order to shield off Colorado’s resilient and fast paced offense.
One key impact player on the Ducks roster that you’ll want to watch out for is Oregon’s starting keeper, 5’8 redshirt sophomore Maddy Goldberg. Goldberg has excelled this season for the Ducks. She leads the Pac-12 in saves with 49 saves this season. Goldberg also leads the Pac-12 in saves per game with 5.44. Goldberg impressively has 62 saves in her Oregon career thus far. Another noteworthy statistic is that Goldberg has made five saves or more in all but one match this season. Goldberg has 49 saves and a 74.2 save percentage this season, in addition to allowing 17 goals in nine appearances this season for the Ducks. Colorado’s starting keeper, 5’7 sophomore Jordan Nytes, is also extremely talented. Nytes has 38 saves this season, and a 84.4 save percentage in 10 appearances. Nytes also has allowed just seven goals in 10 games, and has a goals allowed average of .70 per game.
The Buffaloes have a stout defense. In just 10 games played this season, the Buffaloes haven’t allowed a single goal in five out of those 10 games. In order for the Ducks to prevail over Colorado, they’ll need to find an answer offensively. Although Oregon’s offensive production hasn’t been there this season, they have a lot of talent. Some of the Ducks best players include Maddy Goldberg, Callan Harrington, Ajanae Respass, Grace Mensah, and Livvy Moore to name some. Their current problem seems to be the lack of chemistry and offensive consistency. Although the Ducks have a lot of young talent, they have yet to find a recipe for success as a unit. Oregon have only scored three goals this season, and only scored in two out of their nine games played.
The Colorado Buffaloes on the other hand have scored in all but one contest they’ve played this season. Colorado has averaged two goals per game this season, while Oregon has averaged just .33 goals per game. Colorado also averages almost double the amount of Oregon’s shots per game. The Buffaloes average 16.3 shots per game compared to Oregon’s 8.3. Colorado’s best player is easily #20, 5 '8 senior forward Shyra James. James has scored eight goals and also has one assist this season. Shyra James has scored at least one goal in six out of her last seven games played for Colorado. She’s also scored a goal in each of Colorado’s last four matches. I predict that the game between Oregon and Colorado will be close. I believe that Oregon will upset Colorado and win. My final score prediction is Oregon wins, with a final score of 2-1.
Thursday’s game will be an interesting match up between two teams who are both determined to win. Colorado and Oregon also both have talented goalkeepers. The Ducks are seeking their first win of the season, while Colorado are looking to repeat their recent success. The Ducks will host the Buffaloes tomorrow. The game will kick-off at 7:00 PM PST on September 28, 2023. Thursday night's game versus Colorado is Oregon’s first of two games that they will host within the next week. After Oregon plays Colorado tomorrow, they will host Utah this Sunday.