The hope was that the Ducks, coming off a 9-4-6 regular season, would see their name called as an at-large choice for a tournament berth. The first NCAA Tournament appearance in program history seemed to be at hand.
It was not to be. The Ducks quietly exited to the meeting room and headed out into their offseason. But the sting of that moment didn’t go away.
“We might have thought it was our year last year; we might have thought we were going to get that,” UO goalkeeper Leah Freeman said. “But the fact we didn’t, that was a wake-up call.”
On Thursday, the 2022 Oregon soccer season begins when the Ducks host New Mexico State at 5 p.m. It will be the Ducks’ first game on the new surface installed at Papé Field this offseason.
A year after making a solid case for NCAA Tournament consideration but being left out, the Ducks this fall want to leave no doubt.
“It can’t be something where it’s up for grabs,” Freeman said. “We want to solidify it. We want to ensure we’re in that position.”
Freeman contributes to a strong foundation as the UO women build towards that goal. Already second in school history with 14 shutouts, the junior spent time this summer at the US U20 national team camp. Freeman is supported by her close friend Maddy Goldbergand there’s more depth in the net from freshmen Julia Richards and Anna Solomon.
Oregon’s back line has to replace Chardonnay Curran, who is now in her rookie season with the NWSL’s Kansas City Current. But veterans Chai Cortez, Croix Soto and Anna Phillips return, and the Ducks welcomed the USC transfer Bel Rolleywho brings experience in the Pac-12 Conference to Oregon’s back line.
“It’s always been a strength of ours,” UO coach Graeme Abel said. “We’ve always kind of built from the back, made sure that base is there.”
In the midfield, sixth-year senior True Dydasco is back from a season lost to injury, providing talent and experience. Fifth-year senior Zoe Hasenauer looks forward to taking the field again with Dydasco, and finishing their careers on a high note as they continue to show progress under Abel.
“We’ve just been through so many different things,” Hasenauer said. “That’s really helped our bond, and helped us have a really great team environment together.”
If there are any obvious areas for improvement this year, one is converting more chances offensively. Abel said a quality conversion rate is 30 percent or better; the Ducks in 2021, he said, converted more like 22 or 23 percent of their chances.
The returning veterans up front such as Lexi Romero and Kaitlyn Paculba worked hard over the spring and summer to improve the quality of their chances, and their finishing ability, Abel said. The Ducks also added some young talent that enhances the group’s technical proficiency, including freshman forward Ajanae Respass.
An X factor in helping improve Oregon’s offensive proficiency, Hasenauer said, is the quality of the back line they face every day in practice.
“Them being so good at what they do, it really pushes us to raise our level of finishing,” Hasenauer said. “That’s something that has really pushed us.”
At every step, that hard work has been motivated in part by the sting of last fall’s NCAA Tournament snub. For a player like Hasenauer who came to Oregon looking to help the Ducks take that step, making it as a senior would mean the world.
“I think we’re going to have a tournament-level team, — again,” Hasenauer said. “I really hope we make it this year.”