University of Oregon
6-9-2, 2-6-1
Stanford
15-1-2, 7-1-1
UO Puts Up Valiant Effort, but Falls 1-0 to Stanford
10/31/14 | Women's Soccer
STANFORD, Calif. – Oregon (6-9-2, 2-6-1) put up an exceptional fight, but their efforts weren't enough to keep No. 4 Stanford (15-1-2, 7-1-1) from winning 1-0 in overtime. The Cardinal's Lo'eau LaBonta scored in the 95th minute to give the Cardinal the victory.
How It Happened: The Ducks weathered a relentless Stanford attack for the better portion of regulation time. The Cardinal outshot the Ducks 23-4 in the first 90 minutes, but Oregon found different ways throughout the night to keep the home team out of the goal.
It wasn't until the 95th overtime when the Cardinal pressure finally broke through the Duck defense. Stanford's Taylor Uhl dribbled her way into the box and managed to spin away from a couple Oregon defenders to give herself an open shot at the goal. She ripped a left-footed shot, but Abby Steele quickly reacted and got hands on the chest-level shot.
Due to how close the shot was, Steele was unable to catch the attempt. The ball fell to the ground off the keeper's fingertips, and LaBonta came crashing into the scene to finish the easy rebound while Steele was still on the ground from her previous save. The score gave the Cardinal the golden-goal, and the Ducks were handed their fourth overtime loss of the season.
Ducks' Defense Held Strong: With Stanford averaging over two goals a game (2.12), Oregon did well to limit the Cardinal to just one goal.
Stanford has scored at least two goals in nine of their fifteen wins. Oregon joins three top-25 teams (No. 22 Washington State, No. 9 Notre Dame and No. 8 Florida) that have lost to Stanford, but limited them to just one goal.
Ubogagu's Aggression: The Cardinal's best player and leading goal scorer, Chioma Ubogagu, proved why she is also the Pac-12's leader in shots. The senior forward got off 10 shots on the night, which ties an Oregon school record for shots in a game from a player on the opposing team. The backline and Steele worked well together to ensure that all of Ubogagu's chances were under pressure and challenged.
Steele Was Sensational: The senior's eight saves was a season-high effort for the keeper who was playing in a homecoming of sorts with her hometown of Santa Rosa, Calif., just 90 miles away. Steele made several diving saves and was forced to use every centimeter of her 5-foot-11-inch frame to make the save of the match:
Next Up: The Ducks will play their last regular season road match of the season when they play at California on Sunday, Nov. 2 at 1 p.m.
Team Stats
LaBonta, Lo'eau (8)
Shot by Uhl saved, LaBonta first-time sh
94:40
