Any Duck fans out there?

Any info on the Duck Women's soccer team would be greatly appreciated. I know from reading the Pilots' weekly update that they are 6-3-0 and have scored 20 goals in 9 games, after having scored just 24 goals in 20 games last season. They were 2nd in the Pac-10 last year with a 12-6-2 record and ranked 17th in the final Soccer America poll.

I recall the Ducks excitedly gathering for the at-large tournament announcements last year, only to be left out in the cold. Second in the Pac-10 and no tourney berth? Some awfully disappointed young ladies. I know Tara Erickson has done a good job with them the last two plus years after coming over from Portland State.

Anyone have any inside info on the Ducks that would interest Pilot fans before our last non-conference game against them on friday night?

http://www.registerguard.com/news/2007/10/04/d1.sp.uosoccer.1004.p1.php?section=sports

That article details the Ducks' motivation this season and going against the Pilots tomorrow. I find it a little sketchy.

From the article:
"The 10-person NCAA selection committee, which includes Portland associate athletic director Buzz Stroud, didn't choose Oregon for the 64-team field despite its second-place finish in the Pac-10, a decision still spoken about only through gritted teeth by most Oregon players."

I'd say that most Pilot fans and the Pilots themselves bemoan this fact as well. I know I was shocked. The article does not mention that it actually BENEFITS the Pilots to have a regional team in the NCAA tournament and that it would be unwise for Stroud to vote against them. (Even though it ultimately did not matter as UP was not seeded) Not such great research there.

Right... and it should say INCLUDED, not includes. He's not on the committee anymore as far as I know. Definitely sloppy research.

We play too rough, and we conspired to keep Oregon out of the playoffs. Don't reporters cross check anything? How lazy can you get?


Well, I looked up the box score for the game last year, and it confirms what I recall of the game and Oregon's style of play. Here's a picture of that part of the box score





Case closed.
If you are going to play that style of ball, perhaps you should be paying attention and not day dreaming as the young lady admits to doing. Maybe wear a mouth guard.

As to Buzz conspiring to keep Oregon out of the tournament, that's ridiculous. They got left out because the NCAA, in all its wisdom, issued the year end RPI before the last weekend of play, and Oregon's two wins weren't figured in. Apparently, it was too much work to recompute. I might also point out that Oregon State had someone on the committee. I wonder what that vote was?

The reason we had to go on the road last year was because no team within 300 miles got into the tournament. Had they made it in, we would have had 2 home dates to start the tournament. We didn't get an especially good deal from the NCAA, either. We were the only team ranked in the top 16 who had to go on the road the first week. We were also the only team in the top 16 of the RPI that didn't get a seed in the tournament.

And, I think we have the distinction of being the only team who won the championship the year before and was still ranked the following year to not get a seed.

HEY OREGON, you had an ally in us!!

The last piece of literature I saw from the NCAA still lists Buzz as being on the committee for 2007.
[url] http://web1.ncaa.org/committees/committees_roster.jsp?CommitteeName=1WSO [/url]
His term expires in Sept. 2009.

That was a poorly written story. Golly!... Who's Scott? A new recruit? Dude...there's something called a roster and/or media guide which you should keep close to your PC. I think they even hand them out for free.

I'm not a professional writer but ...if you can't even take the time to verify the name of a player who appeared in the World Cup (and scored a goal too)...then how can anyone believe the rest of the (facts?) you're trying to present. Talk about losing interest quickly. After that, the story sounded like a bunch of sour grapes. Boo hoo! You Poor Ducks! I can't believe I actually felt sorry for them not getting an invite to the tournament last year!

Thanks for the foul stats Geezer. Do you think the writer and the interviewed looked at that before they focused on the Pilot's physical or questional play? ...NOT!!! So when did we become a non-finesse team anyway? How convenient of them to misplace the true source of aggressive play, eh? Good grief!?

That just fans the flames (of the barbeque...)! Let the feathers fly tonight!!!

The one thing to consider is that the Register-Guard is slanted positively toward the Ducks. It's the hometown paper.

People who didn't care about soccer were grousing about the tournament snub last year. It even made sports talk radio in Eugene.

Hopefully they know who Sophie "Scott" is now.

The one thing to consider is that the Register-Guard is slanted positively toward the Ducks. It's the hometown paper.

People who didn't care about soccer were grousing about the tournament snub last year. It even made sports talk radio in Eugene.

Well, I was pretty stunned they didn't get in, too.

They deserved it more than a couple of other PAC10 teams

How that became the Pilots fault--I can't figure out.