Oct. 19, 1997

Women's Soccer Downs Oregon

EUGENE, Ore.-USC wasted no time in jumping on the Oregon women's soccer team as it found the back of the net just 53 seconds into what turned out to be a 5-1 contest Sunday afternoon at Cody Waters Field at Marist High School.

"We're not really coming out quick," said second-year head coach Bill Steffen. "We tend to play better during the center parts of periods. That's a problem for us if we put ourselves in a hole in the early or late parts. We need focused play for a full 90 minutes."

USC's Megan Orach parlayed the first of her team's six corner kicks into a goal off a pass from Sharla Chiang. The Ducks took notice of the quick attack and played solid defense for the remainder of the half. USC scored just once more in the opening period, when Kim Clark converted a penalty kick at the 27:27 mark.

To open the second half, again USC moved quickly although this time the Trojans needed 1:08 into the second half before Clark found the back of the net again from the upper left corner of the box. And just six minutes later USC had its second two-goal scorer as Orach hit paydirt at 52:06.

"We're concerned about the things we can control," added Steffen. "It took us about 15 minutes to realize they were more physical and that we would have to step up our intensity. We're concerned about not being physical in the beginning and ends of halves."

Oregon's offensive threats were limited as the Ducks managed just two shots in the first half and one in the second half. That second-half shot, a rocket off the right foot of Melissa Sherman hit the crossbar and ricocheted off the back of USC's Katie Ticehurst and across the goal line for the Ducks lone score at the 62:05 mark.

Courtney Barham struck for the Women of Troy just a minute later, 63:07, to regain the momentum for USC.

"Good teams penalize you for making mistakes," said Steffen. "They were a good team for longer stretches than us. We were a good team in spurts."

USC outshot the Ducks 20-3, including an 11-1 margin in the second half.

Oregon (3-11-1 overall; 0-4 Pac-10) returns to action next weekend when it travels to the desert to take on Arizona (Oct. 24) and Arizona State (Oct. 25).

USC 5, Oregon 1 
Scoring: 
USC -- 0:53 Megan Orach from Sharla Chiang 
USC -- 27:47 Kim Clark unassisted 
USC -- 46:08 Clark from Christi Ayala 
USC -- 52:06 Orach from Kaylee Whitfield 
ORE -- 62:05 Own Goal 
USC -- Courtney Barham from Orach 
Shots: 
USC 20 
Oregon 3 
Corner Kicks: 
USC -- 6 
Oregon 4 
Saves: 
USC -- 2 
Oregon 5 
Fouls: 
USC 18 
Oregon 11 
Yellow Cards: 
USC -- 37:13 Katie Ticehurst 
Oregon -- 71:08 Kristi Morris