Hannah Greene | Sports Editor
A perfectly sunny day welcomed the Men’s Soccer team to the pitch for their first home game. Oct. 6 our Wolves played the University of Oregon Ducks — the team that has showed no mercy to Western in the past.
As warm ups began, nerves were shaken out. The Wolves brought a squad of only 12 men including one goalkeeper, meaning only one substitute was available during the game.
In the first three minutes of the game, the Ducks scored their first goal from a slip pass to an unmarked forward, making the score 1-0.
The Wolves’s goalkeeper — first-year Wyatt Haak — heightened the energy with a tackle against a Ducks’s forward, not only taking the ball but taking out the forward as well. 20 minutes into the game, Western’s own forward stepped off of the field due to an injury leaving 10 players on the field, giving the University of Oregon a huge advantage.
The Ducks took a corner kick bringing the goalkeeper out for a 50/50 ball, leaving the goal wide open. Wolves’s defender made the save and kicked the ball out of the goal before it could cross the white goal line.
An offensive attack from the Ducks created another opportunity, making the defense work hard and save yet another goal by clearing the ball out. At the 31 minute mark Wolves’s goalie made another save against an unmarked Ducks’s forward, tackling the player and hitting the ball out. Western’s defense continued to maintain the tempo of the game to keep University of Oregon at only one goal.
The Ducks connected a one-two pass to the goal and shot the ball with a fast spin; Wolves’s defender went to stop the ball and it came off his foot wrong and right into Western’s own goal, making the score 2-0 Ducks.
The Wolves got multiple breakaways and transitions towards the Ducks’s goal, but were unable to find a way to finish. The last five minutes of the first-half, the Ducks gave high pressure and continued to take chances at the goal, causing panic among the Wolves, but the Wolves kept pushing forward to keep the first half 2-0.
The Wolves started the second half on the wrong foot; only 10 minutes in and the University of Oregon scored two more times to make the score 4-0.
Both teams continued to show perseverance and effort, with strong battles to every ball. Even though the Wolves had no luck to score, they created multiple chances and kept a cool head in the game.
Towards the end of the game, the Wolves began to show frustration with each other, with the defense unable to find any offense. Then, out of nowhere, the Wolves hit a long ball over the Ducks’s defense, leaving Western’s forward to shoot the ball, only to have it hit the keeper. The forward didn’t stop and kicked the ball again to see it to the back of the net. Western Oregon University now had one point on the scoreboard.
The final score: University of Oregon 6 and Western Oregon University 1.
Although the Wolves lost their first home match, they made for a game that kept the audience on the edge of their seat. While only having 10 men on the field for a portion of the game and no subs, the Wolves stayed strong and left every bit of energy on the field.
Contact the author at howlsports@wou.edu
Photos by Hannah Greene
