Ducks Perfect in First Half Before Cal Rallies for Win

Sunday, October 22

Berkeley, Calif.

11:00 AM

University of Oregon

7-9-0, 1-7-0Pac-12

California

13-2-1, 6-1-1Pac-12

Oregon

California

Ducks Perfect in First Half Before Cal Rallies for Win

10/22/17 | Women's Soccer

Box Score Oregon-California Box Score 2017 Season Statistics

BERKELEY, Calif. — Oregon stymied No. 16 California for a half on Sunday, but the Bears finally broke down the injury-depleted Ducks in the second half and took home a 3-0 win on senior day at Edwards Stadium.

The Ducks (7-9, 1-7) were nearly perfect in the first half – including a point-blank save by goalkeeper Halla Hinriksdottir in the 33rd minute to keep the match scoreless.

But Cal (13-2-1, 6-1-1) finally broke through on Abigail Kim's strike in the 53rd minute that somehow found its way through Hinriksdottir and into the goal.

How It Happened: It was a tale of two halves. The first period was remarkably level with each team getting off just four shots. Hinriksdottir had two saves in the period.

In the second half, once Kim broke the tie, Cal added on with a rebound goal from Mirandi Nild in the 58th minute and another strike from distance by Mia Corbin in the 63rd minute.

Who Stood Out: The first half effort from the entire defense – defenders Mia Costa, Alyssa Hinojosa, Michelle Rockey and Jazmin Jackmon, plus holding midfielders Abby Morrow and Chardonnay Curran – was one of Oregon's better defensive halves of the season.

Jayne Lydiatt came off the bench to lead Oregon with three shots, while Marissa Everett and Taylor Kuroda had two. Everett tied Beth Bowler for seventh in UO career shots with 114.

What It Means: If the Ducks can repeat that first half effort when they return to the state of Oregon for the final three games of the season, the preseason goal of 10 wins is well within reach.

Quotable:

Head coach Kat Mertz
"Obviously not the result we were looking for but I was pleased with the way we started the match. We can learn from what we did well in the first half and work on doing that for 90 minutes next time."

"If we do that, we have a very good opportunity to get to 10 wins, which was one of our goals for the season."

Notable: Already playing without their top-scoring forward Kyra Fawcett, who was knocked out of the Sept. 29 match at UCLA, the Ducks had to go without starting midfielder Sofia Chambers on Sunday, who was knocked out of Thursday's game at Stanford when match referee inadvertently collided with her in the first half. … When Caitlyn Wong subbed in for Hinojosa in the 77th minute, it marked the first time this season that Hinojosa did not play a full 90 minutes. … Costa wore No. 22 for the third straight match to honor teammate Brianne Parsons. Parsons and her family lost their Santa Rosa home to the fires in Northern California earlier this month. Parsons' family was in attendance on Sunday.

Up Next: Oregon returns to the state for the final three matches of the 2017 season. That stretch begins Thursday against Utah at Pape' Field (7 p.m. Pac-12 Live Stream).

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