Ducks Ride Clears Wildcats
By Nathan Cordova
EUGENE, Oregon (February 29, 2008) – In their first out-of-conference test of the 2008 season, #6 University of Oregon defeated the WCLL’s Chico State University 21-10. The Wildcats were in a position to take the lead early after a slew of man-up opportunities; however, the Oregon ride and face-off unit prevented the visiting team from settling the ball in its offensive half for most of the game.
“We always, always pressure the ball,” junior midfielder, Will Desiervo, said after the game. “We always try and keep the ball on our side of the field. That’s one of our huge philosophies is pressuring the ball, especially on clears.”
Duck sophomore Justin Blackmore (5g, 1a), led all players in scoring, including an early three goal stretch bridging the first and second quarters that prevented Chico State from taking the lead.
“[Blackmore] always seems to be in the right place at the right time and he rides like crazy. He’s the best riding attackman I’ve ever seen,” Oregon head coach, Ben Tiller, said of the conference-leading scorer. “He’s making people make bad decisions, and that’s how he creates his breaks.”
In the second quarter, as Oregon’s intensity in the midfield picked up, and its lead increased accordingly, the Ducks turned a 6-4 first-quarter lead into a 12-5 lead by halftime.
“They run a great 3-3 zone, their zone is awesome on the clear, but you know, we had a plan for it and when we ran it worked,” Chico State head coach Paul Rocchio said. “We just got away from what we were supposed to do, we got away from our game plan.”
In getting away from their game plan, the game got away from the Wildcats. After the second quarter, the game was never close and by the end of the third Oregon was substituting liberally from its bench.
“They came out kind of flat, which is a problem that we’ve had all year and you know, I told them to kick it up a notch,” Tiller said.
The loss to the Ducks dropped Chico State to a disappointing 1-4 start on the season. “We are just not doing what we know how to do fundamentally and especially defensively,” Rocchio said. “There is no excuse. We just didn’t play.”
One of the lone highlights for Chico State during the game was the strength of its outside shooting, led by senior attackman, Thomas Hower (4g).
“We got good rotations and the wing shots were just opening up,” said Hower, a 2007 WCLL All-Conference Honorable Mention. “Our man-up finally came together this game.”
Through four games, the Duck’s opponents have been unable to test them for more than a quarter, leaving Oregon unproven after this 4-0 start.
This is likely to remain the case after they play the visiting University of San Diego Toreros (1-2) on Saturday in Eugene. If the Ducks want to win against tougher competition down the road they know they will have to pick up their intensity and stop the penalties that cost them goals during the game.
“I think [the penalities] might help us in the long run, but they hurt us today, because that can’t happen early on. We let them in where we could’ve come out and taken momentum,” senior defensive captain Jeff Brunelle said. “We realized that we had to pick it up, that it wasn’t going to be a cakewalk.”
