Oregon soccer finished its 2017 nonconference schedule with a dominant 4-0 win over the Idaho State Bengals on Sunday, moving to 6-2 on the season.
After taking an early lead, Oregon added one more goal ahead of halftime and solidified the win in the second half with two more goals. The Ducks win gives them the best record since an 8-1-1 nonconference record in 2005.
In the 13th minute, Jayne Lydiatt scored from close-range after a deflected shot from Brianne Parsons and sent the ball into the back of the net.
Oregon struck again in the 29th minute. This time, it was Jessica Yu who finished. Taking a pass from Chardonnay Curran, Yu played her shot right past Idaho State’s goalkeeper to give her team a 2-0 lead. The goal was Yu’s second of the weekend, after she scored her first career goal Friday night against Montana.
The Ducks weren’t finished. In the 74h minute, freshman Mia Palmer weaved around Idaho State’s defense all the way from the sideline to the penalty spot before hammering a beautifully placed curler into the left corner. The goal was Palmer’s first as a Duck.
“I hadn’t really taken people that whole game, so I wanted to take a risk,” Palmer said. “I just saw the open top left corner, and I just took it. It feels amazing — I can’t explain it.”
To put an exclamation point on her team’s performance, Kyra Fawcett ripped a shot into the net from 25 yards out in the 86th minute — her third goal of the season.
“I don’t think today was my best game,” Fawcett said. “So I think my mentality was just trying to keep going for it. I was a little bit frustrated. Touches weren’t going my way — shots, passes, all that stuff. Our team talks about mentality all the time, and the right mentality goes a long way. That’s where that shot came from.”
Oregon out-shot Idaho State, notching 28 shots to their opponent’s nine.
The Bengals hang tough in the opening minutes of the match, but were simply outplayed and outmatched by the Ducks at every turn. When Idaho State managed to get shots off, they were stymied by the ever-present Oregon back line. Goalkeepers Halla Hinriksdottir and Katelyn Carter combined for the clean sheet, with each playing a half.
“For us, this was the last game of the non-conference,” head coach Kat Mertz said. “We wanted to put some things together. We’re always trying to go back and revisit our goals. Some of them were just being able to create and be in a positive goal differential. We were able to capitalize on that.”
It’s a position echoed by Fawcett.
“I think our team is gonna do amazing in Pac-12,” Fawcett said. “The mentality with the team right now is awesome.”
The Ducks will open their Pac-12 schedule in Tuscon against the Arizona Wildcats on September 23rd at 7:00 pm.
Follow Aaron Alter @aaronalter95
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