Washington State soccer (8-3-3, 2-2-2) was only able to convert on one of its 27 shots against the Oregon Ducks (4-5-5, 2-3-1) on Friday night. The Cougars’ attack was frustrated by an impressive night from veteran keeper Leah Freeman (10 saves) and some rushed shots.
It was a frustrating 1-1 draw on the Palouse. At least the unbeaten streak against the Ducks was extended to 11 matches.
Freeman’s aggressiveness on Washington State’s passed came to bite her in the ass when she failed to stop a pass to Margie Detrizio, which left the senior free to fire of an unobstructed shot on net. Match tied at 1-1 in the 53rd minutes.
Less than 30 seconds later a loose ball with an empty net threatened — with Freeman on the ground — to give the Cougs a lead…but Oregon’s defense managed to clear it out near mid-field. It was part of a sequence where the Cougars dominated the first ten minutes of the second half. This included several impressive takeaways for WSU before the ball even crossed into its territory.
Oregon earned its second corner kick of the night in the 61st minute when Bridget Rieken got in the way of a shot on goal. The deflected shot sailed well over the net. Morales got off her third shot of the night, but it was wide which led to a goal kick for Washington State.
Lindsey Turner would get off an opportunity in the 63rd minute that was poked away by Freeman. I’m the two minutes after that WSU racked up two corner kicks. Neither of them turned into points as Freeman (once again) got in the lane to grab the pass.
Nadia Cooper would earn her first save of the second half when she also picked off a pass that led to some contact with Morales. On the other end of the pitch, Lynch was hit from behind by the goalkeeper as they both went for a header, which lead to a whistle on the Coug.
Detrizio would just mishit a misfired Oregon header in the 71st minute. If she’d taken a moment to set up the shot better, Freeman was out of position which left the net empty.
In the 77th minute, the Cougar defense was out of position so Turner took one for the team and tackles Lexi Romero hard to draw the yellow card. The yellow came after a pair of hard tackles kicked the ball loose. It also gave WSU a chance to get its defense into position.
Oregon would get another opportunity in the 82nd minute after a beautiful cross pass into the box. Fortunately, the shot was rushed and a mile high. On the counter, Grayson Lynch’s cross to Detrizio was on target but the shot was just off of the left post. The score was still tied at 1-1 as the 83rd minute expired.
Lynch would get a shot off in the 84th minute but it sailed wide. That shot was WSU’s 25th shot of the game as the offense pressed to find the go ahead goal. Boyden and Detrizio would get off shots on goal within the final five and half minutes. But not a one of them would find the back of the net by the time the clock and hit the full 90.
There was a massive collision in the 89th minute that saw a WSU and Oregon player collide. Both went down, both were able to get up under their own power.
Washington State would fire off two more shots in the final 15 seconds.
The Cougars started off the second half when Detrizio took on the Ducks’ defense all by her self. She fired off a left footed shot in the 48th minute that was just wide. WSU would quickly regain possession and apply lord of pressure on Oregon’s defense. But the sloppy passes from the first half continued to be a problem that slowed down Washington State’s attack.
Detrizio would demonstrate her athleticism when she spun around her defender after a pass from Lynch but her shot was too high. Frumpong-Ellertson would, a minute later, fire off a pass to Lynch but it was punched away by Freeman (again). Lynch would get her own shot on goal a few moments later, but it too was to high.
In the first half, Washington State would create an opportunity in the seventh minute when Lily Boyden sent a pass across the net, but the Ducks’ keeper got their hand on it. Because of that hand it deflected away from Lynch.
That missed opportunity came back to bite the Cougars in the ass when Trinity Morales corralled a rebound off of Cooper to knock it into the net. Lexi Ramero had gotten the ball into Morales on a pretty pass for the first shot. The freshman than grabbed the rebound off of the keeper to make it 1-0 Oregon.
In the 13th minute there was a collision between Rieken and Oregon’s Freeman when a pass was near the net. There was no foul due to an offsides call.
Four minutes later, Sydney Studer would fire off the Cougs’ first shot on goal. It was high and wide. But it was the first time WSU had earned that state, and the third time they’d successfully applied pressure on Freeman. There were multiple times throughout the first half where Washington State had gotten into space behind the Ducks defenders but bad passes blew the scoring opportunity.
Another opportunity came for Lynch in the 23rd minute. But it was easily smothered by Freeman. That was followed up two minutes later by a brulliant save off of a Jenna header — Lynch fed her a beautiful pass.
Less than 20 seconds later the Cougs got off a counter that forced another shot. Freeman tipped the shot over the cross bar which led to a corner kick. That turned into a wasted opportunity unfortunately. Oregon’s keeper recorded her fourth save when she intercepted a crossing pass that would have been an easy goal.
Detrizio would be subbed into the game, along with Frimpong-Elertson, in the 29th minute. The offense immediately fed the ball to Boyden who fired off a shot but it was easily smothered at the net.
Detrizio was fouled on the goal kick, but the set piece didn’t amount to much either.
Oregon would, finally, generate another opportunity in the 32nd minute. But Minniss played some excellent one-on-one defense to stop the Ducks’ attack. Less than two minutes later the Cougs got the ball to Detrizio near the net, but she didn’t have time to settle and the shot she fired off was too high.
The 42nd minute saw back-to-back opportunities for the Cougars on the offensive attack. One was a shot right at goal that Freeman easily stopped, the second one was a pass she broke up with an impressive punch.
In the end, the first half ended with a whimper as the Oregon defense got the ball back to Freeman. The keeper ate up the rest of the clock with an impressive goal kick, and some back and forth between Cooper and Tapan.
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Categories: NCAA, NCAA Soccer
