The Oregon Ducks women’s soccer club (2-6) surpassed its season goal total with a definitive 3-0 win over the Air Force Falcons (2-3) on Friday at Papé Field.

The Ducks entered the match with just two goals through their first six games, in which they were shut out four times. They’ve outshot their opponents in their last nine games dating back to 2014, however, so their offense was bound to explode.

“We worked hard for those goals,” head coach Kat Mertz said. “It was nice to see that pay off.”

Marisa Everett put the Ducks on the board in the 11th minute with the first goal of her career. The freshman midfielder positioned herself near the penalty mark when Abby Morrow crossed the ball in her direction. Air Force goalkeeper Alex Kahalley dove to intercept the ball but it bounded off her arms toward the right foot of Everett, who poked it in the open net.

“I’m excited,” Everett said. “I want to put more in.”

The Ducks continued applying pressure on offense and winning the battle at midfield. Sophomore midfielder Miranda Schulz found herself in a one-on-one with the keeper after the ball ricocheted off a defender in front of the goal box. Kahalley made the diving save but the ball squirted out of the box to the foot of an Oregon attacker, whom an Air Force defender fouled immediately.

Redshirt senior defender Kelsey Foo took the free kick from 22 yards out and buried it into the upper 90, off Kahalley’s outstretched fingertips. Foo’s first career goal put the Ducks ahead 2-0 in the 27th minute.

The Ducks had plenty other scoring opportunities. In the 38th minute, Kira Wagoner drilled a shot off the crossbar from outside the penalty box. The ball bounced once and descended right in front of the crashing Zoe Higgins, who tried to volley it in but sailed it over the wide open net.

At the end of the first half, the Ducks notched 13 shots to the Falcons’ one.

Oregon increased its lead to 3-0 in the 62nd minute, when Schulz one-timed Abby Morrow’s pass across the penalty box into the back of the net.

Everett nearly scored her second goal when she handled a cross in the penalty box on a timed run  and chipped it over the goalkeeper’s head. The ball bounced up off the crossbar and landed in front of Marlo Sweatman, who tried to volley it in but launched it high.

The Oregon defense remained stoic. The veteran defenders held their opponents to one shot in a half for the second time this season, and earned their second shutout.

The Ducks finished with 24 shots to the Falcons’ five. Air Force came into the match averaging 14 shots per game.

Woo, the leader of the defense, described the emotion of the win as a “sense of relief.”

Mertz improved to 6-0 all-time against Air Force. She won all five games against the Falcons when she was head coach of UNLV from 2005-2009.

“For us it was just recharging the batteries,” Mertz said. “It was just nice to be back at home.”

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In his final address to the media prior to their rematch on Saturday, head coach Mark Helfrich said that although his team has plenty of speed, it needs to play fast to succeed.

“We’ve continued to recruit fast guys, but those fast guys have to play fast,” Helfrich said. “Some of our fastest guys are still figuring everything out, and processing too much instead of just playing and going. As soon as that occurs, their natural ability takes over.”

Bralon Addison is one “fast guy” who took the field last week for the first time since 2013. He tore his ACL during last year’ spring practice and missed the 2014 season. Addison caught three passes for 24 yards, including a six-yard touchdown in the first quarter against Eastern Washington.

“It just felt great overall to be out there again,” Addison said.

Addison, the designated kick returner on the depth chart, also returned a kickoff and a punt for the first time in a game since before his injury. He shared the return duties with Byron Marshall, who returned three kickoffs for a 33-yard average.

“I don’t think anybody has won the position outright,” Addison. “I think you can stick any one of us in there, and we’ll be bound to take one back for a touchdown.”

Charles Nelson is another “fast guy” who’s more than capable of bringing back kicks. Despite his listing atop the depth chart at receiver, Nelson didn’t see the field in last week’s win over Eastern Washington for precautionary reasons. He confirmed he will play against Michigan State.

“It was a coach’s decision last week not to play,” Nelson said. “They just thought I should sit out, try to get healthier and just wait.”

Standing at 5-foot-8, 170 pounds, Nelson is widely considered Oregon’s most gifted athlete. During his freshman campaign, he caught 23 passes for 327 yards and five touchdowns, rushed 11 times with a 9.2-yard average, and brought two punts back for touchdowns.

At the beginning of fall camp, the offense and defense competed over which one would feature Nelson in the depth chart. Although Oregon’s young secondary could have certainly utilized his service at cornerback, Nelson ended up complementing the Ducks’ deep, fast receiving corps. It’s unlikely Oregon deploys Nelson on defense or special teams against Michigan State.

“I haven’t really practiced over there, so it will just be a decision that the coaches make,” Nelson said. “Whoever is in there is going to get the job done.”

Eastern Washington shredded Oregon’s young defensive backs last week. In particular, Cooper Kupp torched redshirt sophomore Chris Seisay and freshman Ugo Amadi with 15 receptions, 246 yards and three touchdowns. Don Pellum, however, said his secondary has had its best practices of the year this week, and Helfrich said he likes the way his defense has responded.

Vernon Adams Jr. holds the responsibility of filling the shoes of Marcus Mariota, whom many credit for Oregon’s 46-27 rout of Michigan State last year.

In the third quarter, Marcus Mariota emerged out of a pocket jammed with Spartan pass rushers and shovel passed to Royce Freeman, who burst for a first down as Mariota stumbled forward. The third down conversion set up Mariota’s 24-yard touchdown pass to Devon Allen. Mariota kept the momentum rolling on the next drive with 37-yard touchdown pass to Keanon Lowe to take the lead, which Oregon never gave back.

The Ducks’ win was Michigan State’s first loss, and what ultimately kept them out of the College Football Playoff. Their second loss came at the hands of national champion Ohio State.

The Ducks enter Saturday’s contest as 3.5-point underdogs.

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– Eastern Washington has suspended redshirt sophomore linebacker John Kreifels for its upcoming game against Northern Iowa. Kreifels was ejected in last Saturday’s game against the Ducks after delivering a late hit to quarterback Vernon Adams Jr.  Adams Jr., who led the Eagles to three consecutive Big Sky championships before he transferred to Oregon this summer, left the game briefly, but said he is fine and intends to play against Michigan State this Saturday.

– Royce Freeman, Oregon’s first true freshman to rush for 1,000 yards, is “not much of a public person,” according to running backs coach Gary Campbell. His roommate Charles Nelson, however, said he’s far from quiet. ESPN’s Chantel Jennings describes Freeman’s life off the field, including his affinity for eggs and interest in VH1’s Dating Naked.

– Michigan State football players were not allowed to talk about the Ducks during the offseason. Now, Oregon is the only topic on their minds. The Ducks defeated the Spartans 46-27 at Autzen Stadium last year.

– Only 24 percent of college football players who transfer schools as graduate students, such as Vernon Adams Jr., complete their degree. Nevertheless, the Emerald’s Joseph Hoyt argues Adams Jr.’s performance after just three weeks learning the Oregon offense validates such a “free agency” system.

– Oregon volleyball started the 2015 season with nine road games, ending with a straight-set victory over Texas State.  The team sits at 6-3 heading into Pac-12 play.

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Oregon offense vs. Michigan State defense

The Oregon Ducks’ multi-pronged rushing attack shredded Eastern Washington for 485 yards and six touchdowns on 57 carries, an 8.5 yards-per-carry average. The committee’s production, however, is almost sure to regress on the road against defensive powerhouse Michigan State. The Spartans return stud defensive end Shilique Calhoun to a defensive line that held the Ducks to 173 yards on 40 carries, a 4.3 yards-per-carry average, last year.

Royce Freeman was the lone Oregon rusher Michigan State struggled to contain in last season’s mid-September matchup, with 89 yards on 13 carries. Freeman sealed Oregon’s 46-27 win with a pair of rushing touchdowns in the fourth quarter. The Ducks are likely to rely on Freeman more heavily this Saturday after he rushed for 180 yards and three touchdowns in the season opener. The Spartans’ defensive line, on the other hand, gave up 18 rushing yards to Western Michigan and helped generate seven sacks on Sept. 4.

Many attribute Oregon’s comeback victory over Michigan State in 2014 to the sheer willpower of Marcus Mariota, whose shovel pass to Freeman on third down extended the drive that led to 28 unanswered points to close the game. Mariota completed 17 of 28 passes for 318 yards and three scores against what many deemed to be the Spartans’ “No Fly Zone,” which featured NFL first-round selection Trae Waynes at cornerback. Michigan State’s secondary is less daunting in 2015, with redshirt freshman Vayante Copeland on the right and sophomore Montae Nicholson at safety. Western Michigan quarterback Zach Terrell torched the Spartans for 365 yards, completing 33 of 50 passes in the season opener, an underwhelming 37-24 victory for Michigan State.

Vernon Adams Jr. showed room for improvement against Eastern Washington, but managed to run the offense with relatively few hiccups despite spending just three weeks in practice. He spread the ball to eight different receivers for 246 yards and two touchdowns on 19 of 25 passing, and added 94 rushing yards on 14 carries. Adams may have more weapons at his disposal against Michigan State. Wide receiver Devon Allen sat out the season opener to nurse his recovering ACL tear while Charles Nelson didn’t see the field despite his No. 1 listing on the depth chart. Bralon Addison, who tore his ACL last spring, lined up on a large number of snaps in Nelson’s absence, hauling in three passes for 24 yards and a touchdown.

Michigan State offense vs. Oregon defense

The Oregon defense allowed 42 points in its win over Eastern Washington. In order to defeat Michigan State, who boasts one of the top offensive units of the past several years,  it will have to step up its game.

The Eagles picked apart the porous Oregon secondary for 438 yards and five touchdowns through the air last Saturday. Standout wide receiver Cooper Kupp ran circles around cornerbacks Chris Seisay and freshman Ugo Amadi. Kupp snagged 15 catches for 246 yards, both Autzen Stadium records, and three touchdowns.

Although the Michigan State offense is primarily known for its punishing ground attack, it features a group of veteran receivers who are advantaged in experience and size, as well as a quarterback who improves the play of those around him. Connor Cook, a fifth-year senior on a national championship contender, is an early Heisman candidate by default. He produced his best season to date, throwing for 3,214 yards, 24 touchdowns and eight interceptions last year.

The Ducks held the Spartans to 123 yards on 36 carries, a 3.4 yards-per-carry average, in last season’s contest. Running backs Jeremy Langford and Nick Hill have since graduated, paving the way for three unproven underclassmen looking to hit the ground running. Redshirt freshman Madre London and true freshman LJ Scott each toted the ball 13 times with fair success against Western Michigan. Sophomore Gerald Holmes, the most physical back of the trio, added nine carries, bringing his career total to 24. Expect the Spartans to try to wear down the Ducks’ front seven with the same committee approach.

The Oregon defensive front held Eastern Washington to 111 yards on 31 carries, a 3.6 yards-per-carry average; a strong showing, even though the Eagles are a pass-first team that played mostly from behind. DeForest Buckner and the defensive line will truly be tested against Michigan State’s offensive line, which returns four starters from a year ago — including two seniors and 6-foot-6 junior tackle Jack Conklin. The Ducks will need to blitz more often and put more pressure on the quarterback than they did against Eastern Washington, when they recorded just one sack. The defense should expect to spend more time on the field, as Michigan State will keep the clock moving with more run plays and, presumably, hold Oregon to fewer scoring drives.

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The Eugene Emeralds will not be playoff contenders in 2015.

An RBI-sacrifice fly in the lone at bat by Hillsboro’s Gerard Hernandez in the eighth inning provided the Hops a 3-2 lead the Emeralds could not overcome.

Eugene’s Alberto Mineo led off the ninth inning with a walk and reached second base with one out after a sacrifice bunt. Mineo moved to third on Donnie Dewees’s groundout, but was stranded when P.J. Higgins’s sharp fly ball was tracked down by the right-fielder to end the game.

After the Emeralds (CHC) took two wins in a three-game series with the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes (SF) last week, they sat in first place of the Northwest League South and controlled their own destiny. Had they won their final three-game series with the second-place Hillsboro Hops (ARI), they would have made their first playoffs since 2011.

The Hops had other plans. They silenced the Eugene offense and won the first two games, a 2-0 shutout Friday and 4-1 victory Saturday. The two wins propelled the Hops past the Emeralds into first place and clinched the second-half title for Hillsboro.

Hillsboro won the season’s first and second half, meaning its opponent in the playoffs came down to the team with the next best record for the entire season.

Salem-Keizer entered its final series with an overall record one game worse than Eugene. It had to win its series with the last-place Boise Hawks (COL) to stay alive, and win it did. The Volcanoes took the first two games against the Hawks, improving their record to one game better than the Emeralds. Both teams had one game to play.

The Emeralds needed help from Salem-Keizer after they squandered their division lead. They would have to beat the Hops in their final game to split the series, and the Hawks would have to beat the Volcanoes in their final game to avoid the sweep.

No such luck was granted. Hillsboro completed the sweep and squashed the Emeralds’ hopes.

The Emeralds (22-16) finished the season’s second half one game behind the first-place Hops (23-15). Even if the Emeralds won the last game, the Hillsboro would have won the division tie-breaker because it owned a better head-to-head record against Eugene.

At the conclusion of the 2015 Class A Short Season’s first half, the Emeralds (17-21) finished third in the Northwest League South, five games back of the champion Hillsboro Hops (22-16) and three games behind the second-place Salem-Keizer Volcanoes (20-18).

The Hops won both the first and second halves of the season, thus the team with the next best overall winning percentage advances to the playoffs. Had Eugene won and Salem-Keizer lost today, the Emeralds would have finished the year with the same record as the Volcanoes, but Eugene would have won the tiebreaker because it won five of its nine second-half match-ups with Salem-Keizer. The Emeralds and Volcanoes entered their final-three game series Sept. 1 – 3 with equal records of 3-3, but Eugene went on to win the rubber series 2-1.

Instead, the Volcanoes will host the first game of a three-game series with Hillsboro Sept. 7 – 9 to determine the winner of the Northwest League South. The winner will play the Northwest League North’s winner, either the Everett AquaSox (SEA) or the Tri-City Dust Devils (SD), Friday, Sept. 11 in the Northwest League Championship winner-take-all game.

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The first few games of the 2015 college football season begin today, but the Oregon Ducks still have two days to wait before their season opener against Eastern Washington at Autzen Stadium. During his final address to the media before the game, head coach Mark Helfrich said today is the day the coaching staff tries to cut the players loose.

“We try to cut the umbilical cord from the coaches and make them communicate, and they did a great job of it,” Helfrich said. “Our communication was really good today. I thought our defense in particular was the most vocal.”

• Eight months removed from a knee injury he suffered in the Rose Bowl, wide receiver Devon Allen’s short-term goals have changed. One long-term goal of his hasn’t. The Emerald’s Hayden Kim has the profile of the two-sport star athlete.
• Two 2016 recruits de-committed from Oregon in the past two weeks, causing the Ducks’ recruiting class to slide from No. 7 to No. 29 nationally.
• The Oregon Ducks had their second scrimmage of fall camp on Thursday, and quarterback Jeff Lockie said they suffered too many penalties. The Emerald’s Samuel Marshall has the video.
• Wide receiver Dwayne Stanford looks even faster than he did last season, according to Frost. The Statesman Journal’s Pete Martini has the Q&A with the Ducks’ offensive coordinator.
• Offensive lineman Doug Brenner thinks people will be “very surprised” at how good the Oregon offense will be without Heisman Trophy winner Marcus Mariota.

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University of Oregon student Shunan Zhu died in a single-vehicle crash Saturday, the Tillamook County Sheriff’s Office said.

Zhu was an undergraduate from China majoring in business administration, according to UO records.

Emergency workers responded to the report of an accident on Upper Nestucca River Road near Bible Creek Road at 8:40 p.m.

Respondents found Zhu deceased, pinned inside a 1989 Nissan 240SX off the road.

The driver, Joel Pacello, 31, of Hillsboro was found sitting on the road above the vehicle.

State troopers cited Pacello with charges of DUI and Manslaughter II.

Pacello was taken to a local hospital for treatment and later transferred to a Portland hospital.

– Top-rated class of 2016 receiver prospect Theo Howard unexpectedly decommitted from Oregon on Sunday. Howard had been an active peer recruiter for the Ducks, helping them land four-star cornerback Jared Mayden and four-star wide receiver Dillon Mitchell.

– Jeff Lockie may have had his best practice of the year on Vernon Adams’ first day of fall camp. Meanwhile, backup quarterback Ty Griffin will make the move to cornerback in an effort to increase his playing time.

– Pharaoh Brown recalls facing the prospect of amputation after a gruesome knee injury he suffered in a game against Utah last year. His return to the gridiron is “kind of a miracle,” Brown told the Register-Guard’s Ryan Thorburn.

– The Ducks recruited Henry Mondeaux as a 6’4″, 255-pound tight end. He’s since grown an inch, gained 35 pounds and transitioned to the defensive line to fill the shoes of Arik Armstead.

– Vernon Adams may be the Ducks’ most dynamic quarterback, but Lockie is the leader they need under center. The Oregonian’s John Canzano argues this point in his column.

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Having coached in the Chicago Cubs’ minor league system for eight years, Eugene Emeralds manager Gary Van Tol frequently sees players come and go. Van Tol gets to promote a lot of players, but also must release a fair number from the organization.

“Sometimes guys have been with you for just one or two seasons, and you have to tell them that their dreams are over,” Van Tol said. “That’s the worst part of the job.”

Van Tol has an open door policy with his Class-A short-season players, but doesn’t have much time to build relationships with them, especially due to language barriers.

“I try to really reach out to those players coming in from different countries,” Van Tol said. “I’ve been in those situations in countries where I didn’t know the language at all, so I have a feel of what they’re going through.”

Born in Alberta, Canada, Van Tol played three years for his country’s national team. His goal at the time was to play in the 1992 Barcelona Olympics by qualifying in the Pan American Games. When Canada didn’t qualify, Van Tol had to decide whether he wanted to play professionally or for his country.

He chose to play for Canada.

While traveling around the world with the team, Van Tol met a member of the Dutch national team who also managed a professional team called the Levi’s Neptunus (now known as the Curaçao Neptunus) in Rotterdam, Netherlands. He asked Van Tol, who was nearing the end of his playing career, to be a coach and player for his team after he finished with Canada.

“I ended up playing more than coaching, which was fine by me,” Van Tol said. “You never want to give that up.”

In 1993, Van Tol won the Holland Series and the European Cup in Madrid, Spain with Neptunus. During that time, he was also an assistant coach for Gonzaga University, where he had played college baseball and earned first team All-Pac-10 honors. Van Tol was under contract with Neptunus, so Gonzaga allowed him to leave midway through the college season to play overseas, where the season began in May.

After two years of helping younger players develop in the Netherlands, Van Tol retired from playing in 1993 and transitioned to coaching full time. He finished his master’s degree and started a family with his wife, Christine.

“If I wasn’t a year away from my master’s [degree], and Christine and I weren’t going out, I probably would have stayed over there because I loved it,” Van Tol said. “Having a Dutch name and grandparents who came over from Holland, I fit in pretty well over there even though I didn’t know the language.”

After he returned to the United States, Van Tol got his first head coaching job at Centralia College for the 1994-1995 season. Following a number of other coaching positions, he spent five years volunteering with the Cubs’ Class-A Boise Hawks. The Cubs rewarded him with the manager position for the 2013 season. Since then, he’s coached first-round draft picks Kris Bryant and Kyle Schwarber, who have been rookie revelations for Chicago this year.

Van Tol moved to Eugene this season when the Emeralds announced their new Player Development Contract with the Cubs after 14 seasons with the San Diego Padres. Van Tol coached first-round draft pick Ian Happ until he was called up to the Class-A South Bend Cubs in July. In 29 games for Eugene, Happ posted a .283/.408/.491 slash line.

Van Tol never made it to the big leagues, but said he is grateful to have played a long career internationally, gotten a college education and a chance to see the world.

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