When it comes to offense, Marissa Everett is Oregon soccer’s resident expert on the matter.

A Canyon Lake, California, native i a junior and she has been a force for Oregon since her freshman season, which saw her score a team-leading four goals. While that number dropped to a single goal in her sophomore season, she still led the team with five assists.  

Everett is currently in the midst of a stellar season, and she leads the Ducks with five goals and four assists on the season, which include two multi-goal games. She ranks sixth in program history with five game-winning goals throughout her career, and she also holds the eighth-place spot for shots with 111.

For Ducks head coach Kat Mertz, Everett’s standout performance is hardly surprising.

“That’s the Marissa we know,” Mertz said after Everett’s two-goal game against Kansas State on Aug. 20. “For her, it’s just going out there and having fun. That’s the biggest component for her. When she’s enjoying it, having fun with her teammates, she really shines on the field.”

In Everett’s eyes, her success comes in large part from hard work.

“I think it’s been going the extra mile after practice,” Everett said. “I’ve been staying, practicing my shots and everything. So it’s just increased confidence and the mentality to go to goal.”

Everett’s father, Donald, is used to that kind of drive from his daughter.

“Marissa always strives to be the best she can be, even when the game is tough,” Donald said. “She’s always pushing to get the best touches she can.”

The other key factor in Everett’s standout campaign is her teammates.

While some forwards in soccer are known for focusing on scoring for themselves, Everett places the needs of the team above her own glory. She does not see herself as a forward; instead, she says she views herself as a winger.

It’s something her father says she learned playing on the star-studded Southern California Blues club team.

“She likes being behind the scenes,” Donald said. “She knows the ball will come, and she’ll do whatever it takes to win.”

While she’s typically played with fellow junior forward Kyra Fawcett in past seasons, the Ducks’ second leading scorer, injuries to Fawcett force Everett to play more frequently with Idaho transfer and Eugene native Emma Eddy.

While learning to work with a new teammate might present a daunting task for some, it seems to be right in Everett’s wheelhouse.

“It’s about knowing your players,” said Everett said. “Watching what they do in practice, knowing their tendencies … It’s bouncing off what they give me, and reading them.”

Everett also credits Oregon’s defense for constantly challenging her in practice. She says that the Ducks’ back line is as strong as any she’ll face in Pac-12 play, setting up the perfect practice environment for her to thrive.

Moving forward, the path is clear to Everett.

“We have the mentality. We have the goal, the purpose,” Everett said. “So it’s just all about executing when we get those chances.”

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After losing its first five Pac-12 games, Oregon Soccer exploded for a 3-0 win over the Arizona State Sun Devils on Friday night.

The win gave the Ducks their first conference win of the 2017 season, and pushes Oregon (7-7-0, 1-5-0 Pac-12) closer to head coach Kat Mertz’s goal of at least ten wins on the year.

The Ducks began their offensive onslaught in the third minute. Marissa Everett took the ball in from the left corner and had her first shot deflected. Bayley Bruner followed the deflection with another shot, only for that one to be saved as well. In characteristic style, Everett was in position and played the rebound into the back of the net.

“The way we started, that’s what Ducks soccer is about,” Mertz said. “Get a goal in the first three minutes of the game, it makes me smile. Obviously, it’s a good start for us.”

Everett was just getting started. Bruner was streaking up the left side of the field in the 26th minute when she played the ball to Everett, who fired it home in stride for her second goal of the game.  The score was Everett’s fifth of the season, making her the Ducks’  leading goal-scorer, passing the injured Kyra Fawcett.

“It felt great,” Everett said. “I wanted to get as many as I could. I know Bayley [Bruner] really well, and when she’s in we’re always in sync.”

The Ducks struck again, this time in the 74th minute. Miranda Schulz threaded the ball into the bottom left corner of the net from the top left corner of the box for her first goal of the season.

“It feels amazing, especially where our team’s been at,” Schulz said. “I love this team to death. I owed it to my team. I knew I needed to score for my teammates.”

The Ducks finished the match with 23 shots — a stark change from the five they notched against Washington last week. The offense was fierce and fast, and the Sun Devils were unable to hold the Ducks back.

“It’s really just a testament to our players and the hard work they put in this last week,” Mertz said. “Everyone across the board was frustrated with the U-dub game. Only ‘X’ amount of shots against U-dub wasn’t our style, so it was definitely nice to get 23 shots today.”

Equally dominant was goalkeeper Halla Hinriksdottir, who finished the day with five saves, good for her fifth clean sheet of the season.

“I think we’ve had, as a team, more clean sheets this year than we’ve had the last couple of years,” Hinriksdottir said. “So it feels great to get three and concede none.”

While the win marked the Ducks’ first conference win of the year, the team had something more personal to play for after junior defender Brianne Parsons lost her home to the wildfires raging in California. Mia Costa, whose high school was lost in the blazes as well, wore Parsons’ number 22 in support of her teammate and friend.

“Before this game, we just decided to come together and play for Bri,” Hinriksdottir said. “It’s been very important for us gain perspective of what real hardships are, and this game was definitely for Bri.”

A GoFundMe page has been set up for donations.

The Ducks will travel to Palo Alto to face No. 1-ranked Stanford on Oct. 19th.

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Oregon soccer dropped its fifth consecutive Pac-12 game on Sunday, falling 1-0 to the Washington Huskies.

The loss kept the Ducks winless in Pac-12 play after a promising 6-2 start against non-conference opponents. With a season-high 625 in attendance, which included members of the Oregon marching band, the atmosphere at Papé Field wasn’t enough to propel the Ducks to victory.

“I mean, obviously disappointed in the result, disappointed in the effort coming into the second half,”  Mertz said. “Give credit where credit’s due – UW came out and changed things and we needed to adjust better.”

The Huskies scored the game-winning goal in the 48th minute after a scoreless first half. Senior forward Kimberly Keever shot found its way past goalkeeper Halla Hinriksdottir into the lower left corner of the net.

The match was deadlocked throughout the first half. In what has become a pattern in the Ducks’ losses, the team was bested in the shot differential, notching only five shots to the Huskies’ 13.

“We need to learn and grow how to put a full 90 minutes together,” Jackmon said. “We’ve worked hard for 80, we’ve worked hard for 65, we’ve worked hard for 70. So now we’re just trying to learn how to put a hard 90 minutes of work in.”

Offside calls hamstrung several of Oregon’s offensive runs, including a 13th minute chance that saw Marissa Everett facing a 1-on-1 situation with Washington’s goalkeeper Sarah Shimer that was denied by the offside flag.

Defensively, the Ducks were rock-solid outside of Washington’s lone goal. Mia Costa took a hard shot straight to the ribs in the closing minutes of the first half to stifle what looked to be a scoring opportunity for the Huskies.

In the second half, Alyssa Hinojosa held off an onrush of three Husky attackers long enough for Sofia Chambers to come back and clear the ball.

The match also saw Ducks head coach Kat Mertz shift players around into new positions. Defender Jazmin Jackmon helped out in the attack, focusing on controlling the wing, as well as slotting in at right back. Also moving to right back briefly was freshman midfielder Chardonnay Curran, who filled in for Mia Costa after an injury.

“We’ve got some injuries back there in the back line,” Mertz said. “[Brianne] Parsons is out, Mia Palmer is out, Hannah Taylor is out, and Caitlyn Wong can only give us a certain amount of minutes per game.”

While Parsons and Palmer could return, Mertz shared that Taylor will redshirt this season after a training injury.

After the loss, the Ducks were quick to identify areas for improvement.

“We were trying to play direct at the beginning,” forward Emma Eddy said. “I think we continued that trend for a little too long. In the final third, we could’ve done a little better making runs, getting players into the box.”

Despite the loss dropping the Ducks to 0-5 in conference play, Mertz is optimistic about the future of the season.

“We got six games left, and for us the magic number it to get to ten wins,” Mertz said. “Once you get to ten wins, you’re talking about the NCAA. The RPI in the Pac-12 is so strong, you’ve just gotta take care of one game at a time.”

The Ducks will look to snap their losing streak on October 13th when they face the Arizona State Sun Devils at Papé Field.

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Oregon soccer fell 2-0 to the No. 1-ranked UCLA Bruins on Thursday night in Los Angeles. The match marked the Ducks’ second consecutive Pac-12 loss, leaving them 0-2 in conference play.

UCLA jumped out to an early lead with goals in the 16th and 22nd minutes. The Bruins also led the Ducks in shots (13-11) and corner kicks (7-5).

It was the Ducks who made the first push on offense. The team got off to a solid start with a pair of corners and a shot from Marissa Everett, as well as a shot from Chardonnay Curran. However, a pair of fouls followed by an Oregon handball in the 16th minute stalled the Ducks’ momentum, and led to UCLA’s first goal. Anika Rodriguez took the free kick for the Bruins, and found the back of the net.

The Bruins kept the pressure on, and followed their first score with a second goal in the 22nd minute. This time, the strike came from Hailie Mace after a cross from Rodriguez. The goal was Mace’s team-leading seventh of the season.

UCLA now remains unbeaten on the year (9-0-1) and is still one of only four other teams in the nation to not lose in 2017.

Despite the end result, Ducks goalkeeper Halla Hinriksdottir posted a season-high six saves in the loss.

The Ducks will look to pick up their first Pac-12 win of the season when the face the defending national champion USC Trojans on Sunday at 1 p.m. PT.

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Jessica Yu’s freshman season with Oregon soccer didn’t go as planned.

Despite a high school career during which she led her school in scoring all four years and racked up accolades, Yu struggled to acclimate to the college game. She finished the year with only a single start and zero goals. After spending her offseason grinding to improve, she is starting to make her mark on the Ducks.

“I think last year I struggled a lot with my confidence,” Yu said. “I just had to take a deep breath, play my game and focus on having fun again.”

It’s clear that in her sophomore year the forward has worked out the kinks that hamstrung her debut season. Yu scored her first career goal against Montana on Sept. 15 and followed it up with a second one against Idaho State two days later.

Perhaps most telling of her progress is her playing time. After finishing 2016 with 545 minutes played, she’s already been on the field for 360 minutes this season after only eight games — seven of which she started.

Her father, Jeff Yu, first noticed something different about his daughter’s approach to the game this summer following the team’s trip to Beijing, China.

“She just started working out, especially on the fitness,” Jeff said. “I think that was a big deal. The first year was getting used to a whole new environment, and I think she had a better sense of what to expect coming into this year.”

One of the key aspects of Yu’s development was working with Oregon associate head coach Manny Martins, who often works one-on-one with players to improve aspects of their game.

“Manny’s been great,” Yu said. “Just going over film with me and then coming out in Papé [Field] and doing a lot of work with quickening my trigger on my shots.”

With two goals already, it’s apparent that Yu’s work with Martins has taken her finishing skills to the next level. The other key to her newfound scoring success: Yu’s teammates.

“It’s amazing,” Yu said. “That goal [against Montana] obviously wouldn’t have happened if Marissa (Everett) doesn’t give me that perfect ball through. And Char (Curran) has been just great — a very dynamic player in the midfield. As the season’s gone on, we’ve gotten more comfortable with each other, and that’s been incredible.”

For Ducks head coach Kat Mertz, Yu’s struggles were part of the college experience — and her success is no fluke.

“That’s college soccer,” Mertz said. “You come in as a freshman. You work hard. You develop. You don’t see all the minutes that you want — you’re used to being a 90-minute player for your club team. She’s worked hard at it. She comes in to do film with coach Manny. She does extra sessions. For her to just get that goal, hopefully that’s the first of many.”

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Oregon soccer fell to the Arizona Wildcats 3-1 in the team’s first Pac-12 match of the season.

The Ducks were simply unable to match the Wildcats’ offensive effort, and were outshot 20-12. Arizona also held a significant 15-4 edge in corner kicks.

Arizona struck first in the 17th minute with a goal from the head of Kelcey Cavarra for the only score of the first half. The Wildcats came out strong in the 2nd half and added another goal in the 48th minute, this time from Samantha Falasco. Falasco’s goal was the first score allowed in the second half by the Ducks since their season opener against NC State.

The Ducks were able put some pressure on the Wildcats in the 55th minute courtesy of a Kyra Fawcett goal. Sofia Chambers was credited with the assist. Marissa Everett added five shots, but couldn’t convert. Oregon was unable to score again and conceded a third goal in the 74th minute.

“Arizona’s a good team and we knew this was going to be a tough one,” Oregon head coach Kat Mertz said. “I thought our effort and execution in the second half was noticeably better and we created some chances that we probably should have put away.”

Next up for the Ducks is a September 28th clash with the UCLA Bruins in Los Angeles, California.

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The No. 24 Oregon Ducks travel to Arizona to play the Arizona State Sun Devils. The Ducks dominated the Sun Devils 54-35 last season in Autzen Stadium, so Arizona State will be looking spoil the Ducks’ perfect start.

N’Keal Harry / Wide Receiver / Arizona State

After catching 58 passes for 659 yards and five touchdowns as a freshman, N’Keal Harry has already begun to put together an impressive sophomore campaign. In Arizona State’s recent loss to Texas Tech, he piled up 148 yards and a touchdown on 13 receptions. At 6-foot-4, 216 pounds, Harry has the size to give the Ducks’ smaller defensive backs trouble during jump balls. His speed (4.40-second 40-yard dash) isn’t exceptional, but it doesn’t hinder his play.

Christian Sam / Linebacker / Arizona State

Christian Sam appeared to be an up-and-coming player before an injury sidelined him for his junior season. The linebacker amassed 98 tackles and three sacks as a sophomore. Now that he’s healthy, Sam is starting to look like his old self. He had 11 tackles in ASU’s loss to Texas Tech, and has the size (6-foot-2, 237 pounds) to give tight ends and running backs trouble in the flat. If ASU wants to shut the Ducks’ offense down they’ll need Sam to bring constant pressure on the run.

Justin Herbert / Quarterback / Oregon

Justin Herbert looks solid through three games. He’s thrown for 897 yards and currently has a 90.4 quarterback rating. This weekend, he faces a Sun Devils secondary that was torched by Texas Tech for 543 yards and six touchdowns. Last season, Herbert threw for 489 yards against ASU. Now with a year of experience under his belt, it wouldn’t be shocking to see him go even further. While Oregon is typically a run-first team, don’t be surprised to see Herbert air it out early and often. He has the arm and weapons to make life miserable for ASU’s secondary.

Arrion Springs / Cornerback / Oregon

While he’s yet to record an interception this season, Arrion Springs has helped lead Oregon’s defensive resurgence. He currently leads the team with six pass break-ups through three games. While other members of the secondary have more takeaways, Springs will be crucial in Saturday’s matchup with the Sun Devils. At 6-feet tall, he’ll likely be checkin Harry. Harry will likely be ASU’s most targeted player. Springs has the physical potential to jam him at the line of scrimmage. If Springs can give Harry trouble, he’ll derail the Sun Devils’ game plan.  

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The No. 24 Oregon Ducks travel to Arizona to play the Arizona State Sun Devils. The Ducks dominated the Sun Devils 54-35 last season in Autzen Stadium, so Arizona State will be looking spoil the Ducks’ perfect start.

N’Keal Harry / Wide Receiver / Arizona State

After catching 58 passes for 659 yards and five touchdowns as a freshman, N’Keal Harry has already begun to put together an impressive sophomore campaign. In Arizona State’s recent loss to Texas Tech, he piled up 148 yards and a touchdown on 13 receptions. At 6-foot-4, 216 pounds, Harry has the size to give the Ducks’ smaller defensive backs trouble during jump balls. His speed (4.40-second 40-yard dash) isn’t exceptional, but it doesn’t hinder his play.

Christian Sam / Linebacker / Arizona State

Christian Sam appeared to be an up-and-coming player before an injury sidelined him for his junior season. The linebacker amassed 98 tackles and three sacks as a sophomore. Now that he’s healthy, Sam is starting to look like his old self. He had 11 tackles in ASU’s loss to Texas Tech, and has the size (6-foot-2, 237 pounds) to give tight ends and running backs trouble in the flat. If ASU wants to shut the Ducks’ offense down they’ll need Sam to bring constant pressure on the run.

Justin Herbert / Quarterback / Oregon

Justin Herbert looks solid through three games. He’s thrown for 897 yards and currently has a 90.4 quarterback rating. This weekend, he faces a Sun Devils secondary that was torched by Texas Tech for 543 yards and six touchdowns. Last season, Herbert threw for 489 yards against ASU. Now with a year of experience under his belt, it wouldn’t be shocking to see him go even further. While Oregon is typically a run-first team, don’t be surprised to see Herbert air it out early and often. He has the arm and weapons to make life miserable for ASU’s secondary.

Arrion Springs / Cornerback / Oregon

While he’s yet to record an interception this season, Arrion Springs has helped lead Oregon’s defensive resurgence. He currently leads the team with six pass break-ups through three games. While other members of the secondary have more takeaways, Springs will be crucial in Saturday’s matchup with the Sun Devils. At 6-feet tall, he’ll likely be checkin Harry. Harry will likely be ASU’s most targeted player. Springs has the physical potential to jam him at the line of scrimmage. If Springs can give Harry trouble, he’ll derail the Sun Devils’ game plan.  

Follow Aaron Alter on Twitter @aaronalter95

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Oregon soccer finished its 2017 nonconference schedule with a dominant 4-0 win over the Idaho State Bengals on Sunday, moving to 6-2 on the season.

After taking an early lead, Oregon added one more goal ahead of halftime and solidified the win in the second half with two more goals. The Ducks win gives them the best record since an 8-1-1 nonconference record in 2005.

In the 13th minute, Jayne Lydiatt scored from close-range after a deflected shot from Brianne Parsons and sent the ball into the back of the net.

Oregon struck again in the 29th minute. This time, it was Jessica Yu who finished. Taking a pass from Chardonnay Curran, Yu played her shot right past Idaho State’s goalkeeper to give her team a 2-0 lead. The goal was Yu’s second of the weekend, after she scored her first career goal Friday night against Montana.

The Ducks weren’t finished. In the 74h minute, freshman Mia Palmer weaved around Idaho State’s defense all the way from the sideline to the penalty spot before hammering a beautifully placed curler into the left corner. The goal was Palmer’s first as a Duck.

“I hadn’t really taken people that whole game, so I wanted to take a risk,” Palmer said. “I just saw the open top left corner, and I just took it. It feels amazing — I can’t explain it.”

To put an exclamation point on her team’s performance, Kyra Fawcett ripped a shot into the net from 25 yards out in the 86th minute — her third goal of the season.

“I don’t think today was my best game,” Fawcett said. “So I think my mentality was just trying to keep going for it. I was a little bit frustrated. Touches weren’t going my way — shots, passes, all that stuff. Our team talks about mentality all the time, and the right mentality goes a long way. That’s where that shot came from.”

Oregon out-shot Idaho State, notching 28 shots to their opponent’s nine.

The Bengals hang tough in the opening minutes of the match, but were simply outplayed and outmatched by the Ducks at every turn. When Idaho State managed to get shots off, they were stymied by the ever-present Oregon back line. Goalkeepers Halla Hinriksdottir and Katelyn Carter combined for the clean sheet, with each playing a half.

“For us, this was the last game of the non-conference,” head coach Kat Mertz said. “We wanted to put some things together. We’re always trying to go back and revisit our goals. Some of them were just being able to create and be in a positive goal differential. We were able to capitalize on that.”

It’s a position echoed by Fawcett.

“I think our team is gonna do amazing in Pac-12,” Fawcett said. “The mentality with the team right now is awesome.”

The Ducks will open their Pac-12 schedule in Tuscon against the Arizona Wildcats on September 23rd at 7:00 pm.

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With her parents watching from the stands, Jessica Yu propelled the Oregon Ducks to a 1-0 victory over the Montana Grizzlies with her first career goal.

“It’s always fun to see your daughter play,” Yu’s father Jeff Yu said. “And in a big stage like this, to get her first goal, it’s a really exciting time for us.”

The goal came in the fourth minute. Yu took a pass from Marissa Everett and fired it past Montana’s goalkeeper Claire Howard into the bottom left corner of the net to score her team’s only goal of the match.

“It’s been a long time coming,” Yu said. “It’s just an amazing feeling, putting one away for the team finally.”

Oregon was electric out of the gate. While the Ducks outshooting their opponents is nothing new, the team looked especially dominant in the first half of the match, with 10 shots to Montana’s two. Oregon’s offense seemed to simply overpower Montana’s, preventing the Grizzlies from ever mounting a solid attacking effort.

Out of halftime, the Grizzlies attacked the Ducks with renewed vigor. The Ducks’ back line turned in another stellar defensive performance. The highlight came in the 57th minute, with Montana knocking on the door. Senior defender Mia Costa leapt through the air and headed the ball off the goal-line, stifling what would have been a goal for the Grizzlies.

“My job is to just drop for Halla, and make sure nothing goes in the back of the net,” Costa said. “I dropped on her line to make sure it didn’t go in, and it didn’t go in.”

The Grizzlies continued to press the Ducks, but goalkeeper Halla Hinriksdottir and her defense refused to allow their opponents to battle back.

“To get a goal in the first three minutes? Fantastic,” head coach Kat Mertz said. “Montana’s a good team. In the second half, I thought they put us under some pressure. It was a good way for us to solve and we were able to deal with that. I thought we closed out the game quite well.”

Next up, the Ducks will take on Idaho State at Papé Field on Sunday at 5 p.m. PT.

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