Ducks Play Into 1-1 Tie With Washington

October 23, 2011

EUGENE, Ore.- Junior Scout Libke notched her team-leading fourth goal of the season in the 80th minute of action, but the goal did not hold up as the University of Washington (6-6-4, 2-3-2 Pac-12) scored one of their own in the 89th minute of play, causing the match to end in a 1-1 draw on Friday night at Pape' Field.

Fans could tell that the match was going to be a physical one from the start of the horn from two very similar teams.

The Ducks (7-7-2, 2-4-1 Pac-12) started off in a 4-4-2 format and the strength of the backline, especially from redshirt junior Lauren Thompson shined through for UO to keep the match very competitive.

Of lately, Oregon has been losing the corner kick battle and tonight's match was no different, giving the Huskies a 9-2 advantage. Washington was awarded back-to-back corners to open the match and on the second chance, Sarah Martinez was able to get her head on the ball, but freshman goalkeeper Abby Steele scooped up the shot for the first of her five saves. UW earned another corner off the play and then both teams traded fouls.

While the defense of UO was on display infront of over 600 fans, UW did not disappoint in the defense department either with their defense blocking Oregon's first shot of the match by freshman Shanelle Simien 10 minutes into play.

Simien followed up with another shot a couple of minutes later, but the ball hooked and went wide.

Both teams traded shots and a large number of fouls before the first half ended in a scoreless result.

Really wanting to play an uptempo style of defense, Oregon got overly aggressive to open the next 45 minutes of action, picking up four straight fouls.

Kate Deines was able to find an opening in the Duck defense and took a shot at 53:23, but it went wide and did not come close to scoring. The Huskies picked up another corner at the 59:39 mark, setting up a shot by Lindsay Elston that looked promising, but Steele made another diving save for UO.

Freshman Bri Pugh, who has returned to her pre-injury form, used her speed to sneak in two shots through the Husky defense, but the UW goalkeeper saved the first and Pugh miscalculated the second, resulting in the shot traveling wide.

The Ducks finally connected on a chance at the 79:33 mark off a free kick by Libke. Molly Boyd picked up the second yellow card of the match at 78:27 and UW fouled right after it, setting up the free kick. Libke set the ball on the left side of about the 25 yard mark and sent a beautiful ball over the top of the Husky defense and past their keeper to give Oregon a 1-0 lead.

The physicality of the match kept going until Pugh picked up the third yellow card of the match and second by UO at 87:39, giving the ball back to UW. The Huskies setup off the free kick and a cluster of pink and white jerseys crowded in front of the goal. Elston, who had been looking to score all night, finally slipped the ball past Steele to tie up the match at 1-1.

Neither team was able to find the back of the net as regulation ended, sending the Ducks into their second overtime match of the season.

Two minutes into the overtime, Elston, who had the only shot by either squad, looked to finish off the match, but Steele stopped it from beating her.

In the final overtime period, Pugh finally thought she had notched a goal, but the ball hit off the crossbar to the dismay of the fans still in attendance in the 55 degree weather.

UO earned another corner at 103:06 and in a fury of action, sophomore Brynne Konkel had her shot blocked by the Huskies and junior Nicole Bakke had hers blocked too as time was winding down in the final stanza.

Libke set up for another corner at 103:48, allowing Bakke to get her head on it, but the UW goalkeeper came up with another big save to keep the score at 1-1 and that was how it would end.

Steele moved to 2-7-2 with the complete-match five-save performance. Oregon took more shots than Washington, winning that category, 11-9. The glaring column of the night was the foul column, with the Huskies fouling 18 times to the Ducks' 14.

UO is back at Pape' Field on Sunday at 1 p.m. against Washington State. The Duck will be making a special guest appearance in conjunction with Family Day sponsored by Bi-Mart

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