EUGENE, Ore.—The Oregon Ducks women’s soccer team won their first conference game of the season Sunday against the USC Trojans 1-0 in overtime. Oregon is now 6-6-2 on the season and 1-3-1 in Pac-12 play, while USC falls to 4-6-3 and 0-4-1 in the conference. 711 Duck fans were on hand to witness today’s victory.

UO came out strong and created several good chances early on in the game. The Ducks held a 9-4 first half advantage in shots as well as a 5-0 advantage in first period corner kicks.

The level of intensity and physicality was high throughout the match as USC ended with 18 fouls to Oregon’s 10 and two yellow cards were given out to each side. Oregon’s defense played extremely well, however, as they only allowed the Trojans three shots on goal compared to the Ducks’ ten. The Trojans were also held to zero corner kicks on the match. USC did, however, lead Oregon 9-7 in second half shots, but neither team was able to find the back of the net and the game was sent into overtime.

“I thought we played very well today,” said head coach Tara Erickson. “We created numerous, numerous chances on goal. It would have been a shame to lose that game or tie that game. I thought our defense played very well. Any time SC even got into the attacking third, I thought we defended the ball very well, and Abby was solid in goal. Their best chances came off free kicks. To not give up a corner kick and to have so much possession in the game shows that the final outcome of the game was as it should be.”

The Ducks controlled the overtime period as they fired off five shots compared to none by the Trojans. Sophomore Bri Pugh played a ball to freshman Kira Wagoner inside the box, who turned and fired a shot off the crossbar. Fellow freshman and Oregon leading goal-scorer Kristen Parr was right there to gather the rebound and put the ball in the goal to win the game.

“It was great getting that final goal on the work from Bri who played it into Kira and a heck of a touch and turn by Kira. Also, great composure shown by another freshman in Kristen Parr in front of the net to finish the chance. I’m excited for our team for going through such a difficult stretch of the season, playing so many good teams and then come back and bounce back and not only play well, but get the win. I think it was a good team effort. We had to make a lot of subs there today looking for the right chemistry and I think that it was a very effective team approach,” added Erickson.

Oregon travels to Salt Lake City to face the Utah Utes on Friday, Oct. 12^th looking for their second conference win of the season.

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