Ducks Blank Trinity Western, 3-0 in Exhibition Game

The Ducks officially kick off the season Saturday, Aug. 22, in Madison, Wis., against Wisconsin at 5:00 p.m.

Senior midfielder Lilly Archer scored twice as the Oregon soccer team shutout Trinity Western, 3-0, in an exhibition Wednesday evening at Papé Field. Photo Courtesy: goducks.com

(EUGENE, Ore. ) - Senior midfielder Lilly Archer scored twice as the Oregon soccer team shutout Trinity Western, 3-0, in an exhibition Wednesday evening at Papé Field.

“We definitely got a lot of new faces in the game,” said head coach Kat Mertz. “It was great to see Kelsey Foo, Caitlyn Wong and Brooke Strawn back from their injuries. And then we had a lot of newcomers. In the second half we put in quite a few new faces, so it was great to see them get their first time on the Oregon Duck field and get those nerves and jitters out. We got some really great stuff from the team.”

Senior midfielder Lilly Archer wasted no time putting the Ducks on the scoreboard. After Oregon was awarded a free kick in front of the goal, senior midfielder Kiyomi Cook tapped the ball to Archer, who shot it cleanly into the net for the 1-0 lead at 6:19.

“The set piece goal was interesting,” said Mertz. “To have an indirect free kick right off the bat right inside the 18 – I’ll be honest, we did not work on that. It was great to see the results. Lilly strikes the ball very cleanly. She’s one of our cleanest technical players.”

At 23:03, senior forward Shanelle Simien crossed the ball to junior forward Kristen Parr. As the Trinity Western goalkeeper came out to challenge, the ball found its way to Archer, who made an easy tap in and gave the Ducks a 2-0 lead.

Freshman midfielder Miranda Schulz nearly made it a 3-0 game just before the half as she collected the ball off a cross, but her shot bounced over the net.

Schulz had one of the strongest chances again in the 50th minute, but her solid strike went just wide.

After pushing the Spartan defense, Schulz finally found the net with a penalty shot at 58:06, giving Oregon a 3-0 lead.

All three backup goalkeepers were able to see action against the Spartans. Sophomore Lauren Holden started the game and played the first half. Freshman Halla Hinriksdóttir started the second half in goal and made a big save on Casandra Siveri in the 54th minute. Junior Katie McCormick came on in the 72nd minute and remained on for the rest of the game.

“They’ve all been training really hard. It’s been a great, competitive environment for all the keepers,” said Mertz. “They’ve all been doing a great job.”

The Ducks recorded 18 shots, nine on goal, while keeping the Spartans to just two shots. Oregon made six corner kicks compared to Trinity Western’s two.

Mertz and the Ducks officially kick off the season Saturday, Aug. 22, in Madison, Wis., against Wisconsin at 5 p.m.

Source: goducks.com