Charles Fischer

There were real questions at this position on the Softball team coming into the season, and Alyssa Brito has shown greatness early! As a freshman? Freshman Shortstop Alyssa Brito Quickly Emerges as Key Player for No. 8 Oregon Softball by OregonLive

Mr. FishDuck comment: "Greatness and weakness emerge early."

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE | FRIDAY, February 26, 2021 OREGON ATHLETICS | @OregonSoccer EUGENE, Ore. — Since 1997, Stanford and Oregon have met annually in soccer. Until Friday night, the Ducks had never come out on top. Until Friday night. Playing their first Pac-12 game under new coach Graeme Abel, the Ducks scored in each half and shut out the defending national champion Cardinal for all but a single second of Friday's game at Papé Field, a 2-1 victory for Oregon. Eden Hardy and Ally Cook scored for the Ducks, and Leah Freeman had four saves as Oregon improved to 1-22-1 all-time against Stanford. The Ducks (2-0-1, 1-0-0) had only beaten a team ranked as high as No. 3 in the country once before, an overtime win over UCLA in 2006, until Friday's win over the No. 3 Cardinal (1-1-0, 0-1-0). Stanford lost in conference play for the first time since 2016, having gone 39-0-1 in Pac-12 play since. The game easily could have ended 4-0, after a couple of near-misses by Oregon in the second half. Instead it will go into the history books as a 2-1 score, after Civana Kuhlmann found the back of the net following a scrum in front of the UO goal as the final seconds were ticking off the clock. "It was a win; it was a team win," said Freeman, a freshman from Berkeley, Calif., whose father attended Stanford, and who grew up attending games at both Cal and Stanford. "Obviously a shutout is nice. But it's about the win. It's about what we did as a team." "Today we made history as a team. And that's incredible." The Ducks were outshot, 13-5. But when they had chances, they made them count. "We talked about being assassins in the 18-yard box," Abel said. "One shot, one goal. As simple as that." Hardy put that philosophy into action midway through the first half. The play began with True Dydasco running a give-and-go with Zoe Hasenauer up the left side, before Dydasco sent a crossing pass upfield to Hardy. Taking the ball outside the right post, Hardy scored on one touch, a low shot back across the goal past the diving Stanford keeper. That goal held up to send Oregon into halftime up 1-0. The Ducks had only taken two shots, and Freeman had only made one save at that point. But the activity was about to pick up, at both ends. "We just asked them to stay as even-keeled as possible, and keep executing the game plan," Abel said. "Which is what they did." Less than 10 minutes into the second half, a teammate sent a long pass upfield past the Stanford back line. Cook won a race to the ball with Stanford keeper Katie Meyer and found herself looking at a wide-open net, but sent the shot wide to the right. About 10 minutes later, Jordan Wormdahl rocketed a shot high at Meyer, who deflected it but saw the ball carom behind her toward the goal line. Cook and the Cardinal's Julia Leontini converged on the ball in a collision that knocked Leontini from the game; her consolation was, she'd managed to keep the ball out of the net. At that point, Abel recalled later, he thought back to a conversation he had earlier this month with Cook, who had grown frustrated by some missed chances to finish goals in practice. As long as you're getting chances, Abel counseled her, you're OK. It's when you're not even creating chances that it's time to worry; as long as you're doing so, goals will come. That was borne out just a minute after the collision with Leontini. Wormdahl again created the play, chipping a ball up to Cook, who finished it past Meyer for a 2-0 lead. Cook's resiliency had been tested, and she prevailed. "You've got to have a 2-second memory," she said. "There's going to be more coming. You can't linger on the past. You've got to focus on the present." At the other end, Stanford was putting much more pressure on Freeman. The Cardinal took nine shots in the second half, requiring three saves. Until the very last second, Freeman held strong. The game also featured 13 fouls by the Cardinal, and nine by Oregon. Hasenauer received a yellow card in the 18th minute, seeming intent on the play to signal that the Ducks were not going to be intimidated by the physical tone Stanford was trying to set. "We did not let the physicality get to us," Cook said. "And we gave it right back to them." That they did. The result was one for the record books. - www.GoDucks.com -

No, I do not think an NFL coaching staff is needed, as the one the best staffs ever was under Bellotti/Kelly. The running back and offensive line coach outperformed what we have now and I would take both back in a heartbeat. If you want an NFL type coaching staff, go look into the bios of Arizona State right here. Very impressive, and yet...not so with success. A big part of success is talent and in the last three years....a period that Herm Edwards, Chip and Mario were working--look at the number of four and five star players recruited according to Rivals.com is as following: UCLA 10 Arizona State 15 Oregon 44 We will have the talent advantage maturing in the future, but Cristobal has a number of lessons he has to learn the hard way yet, and they will take the form of costly losses. (Losing the ASU in 2019 along with OSU and Cal in 2020 is not enough with his stubbornness) I believe Oregon can prevail when these lessons are learned. "Mario....do what you are good at ... be the CEO and let your assistants do their job." So no...there is not enough senior leadership at key positions, and at the most important position, QB. Coaching is still in doubt for a run in 2021, IMHO. And Mike....we may disagree, but it is great to see you posting again!

Well, that is what a great coach does; when dealt lemons he/she goes out and gets winners. Coach Lombardi of the Softball team is the best example of that; look at what she was dealt and in the beginning of her third year she is No. 10 in the nation already? She went out and recruited a whole new team ... she had one pitcher left and now has five? Considered one of the deepest pitching staffs in the nation? The QB excuse is a dog-that-doesn't-hunt with me... Chip has not recruited, nor built a staff IMHO to prevail.

Ducks win 6-0 showing a bit more offense and terrific pitching this afternoon against the Seattle RedHawks. Starter junior Peyton Fuller (the pride of Ashland!) went seven innings throttling the visitors, while lefty freshman Rio Britton pitched in his first game as a Duck and closed out the last two innings with no score as well. Stud pitchers Cullen Kafka and Brett Walker coming up this weekend! Game tomorrow at 2:00 PM and Noon on Sunday with the links to live stream and live stats right here. (Scroll down to the game) Tanner Smith is blasting a hit that bounces off the fence! The runner, Gabe Matthews No. 12 scores!

It is great that both sides want to make it happen, and I am ambivalent about a neutral site, simply because it’s rarely ever actually been neutral for Oregon fans. I do think this game needs to happen, because the pack 12 needs this kind of national exposure, and if Oregon were to win… Look out!

If you pick-off a Husky verbal....isn't that like DOG-YEARS? Credit for tons extra?

They no longer have that Clam Chowder, and WOW it had such great herbs and spices in it--so delicious and on a cold day? Perfect. Now the foot-long ALL-BEEF hot dog is still there, (when spectators can return) and they had some of my favorite Oregon Craft Beers in the FOWL Territory. And yes...they are expensive, but it supports Oregon Baseball and you don't do it every day--so have some tasty sipping. Gar and I enjoyed some good innings and refreshments there, and other times I met some wonderful fellow Duck fans. Reading that article reminds me of how I must cherish the moments when I can be in PK Park once again watching Our Beloved Ducks.

That is fun for everyone! (And a pretty talented person in the costume, as shooting in it cannot be easy)

One component to the "retention" question, and how long the OC and DC stay here is what they see of Cristobal's schedule and workload. If they realize, "I gotta recruit against that later as a HC somewhere," and begin to wonder if they can possibly recreate the magic that MC has generated? It might actually make them happier to remain as a Coordinator? That is my fantasy and I'm sticking to it!

Olcodgerduck....it is posts like yours that make all the hours of work so worthwhile--to know they are appreciated. I loved him as so many did..."all I know about Oregon baseball I blame on him!"

Always fun to see these!

To me....the success of the program, whether we are just a consistent nine win team or become a Playoff team comes down to what you wrote....

It is a good subject to ponder David, and boy can we make a case both directions. If you do not promote from within--you will lose good coaches such as Heyward. Yet the DC hired was superior, and that is what we want. Mario is just trying to pick the best guy available, but a big difference is the sales ability of Cristobal himself. Mario could sell Avalos and DeRuyter on coming here to be a DC, while Helfrich could not sell anyone and simply took who would accept the job in Hoke. This recruiting ability in the end could be what is MC's most valuable skill, because if you have great Xs and Os coaches in addition to being great recruiters? You cannot help but do well...

Early in the live-stream they explained that he was still healing and "not ready to go yet." Huh? It is has been a year and he is still not healed enough to be a designated hitter is all? Count him out and if he appears and helps--it is a bonus. Next game tomorrow at 4:00 PM and go to the schedule, scroll down to the game and watch the live stream!

Winning 4-3? That is a score that George Horton would have loved! Nice to see the new freshman from New York, Jack Scanlon make the sacrifice fly to score the winning run! Interesting that none of the expected stud pitchers started tonight such as Brent Walker, Robert Ahlstrom or Cullen Kafka. Coach Waz gambled that we could win this first one against the best Redhawk pitcher and clean up against the other Seattle starters? Seattle beat Portland twice last weekend, so we gotta play well! The pride of South Salem, Aaron Zavala, got to base all five times at bat? Whew! (Calm down Charles) Here is a cool game recap, WALK-OFF WIN FOR DUCKS IN OPENER by GoDucks.com So cool to get a screenshot off the phone of the streaming video and then use my photo-editing software from there!

Stanford had a great 3-point attempt in the last seconds that could have won...whew!

Omigosh! Trailing 3-0 going into their last at-bats after such offensive disappointment--the Ducks exploded for four runs to win! A surprise starter at pitcher in Nico Tellache, (the pride of Canby!) and a host of others that kept the RedHawks close enough for Our Beloved Ducks to make their move. More later with the official recap, as I've got to get back to the Mens Basketball game. Whew! Finishing their celebration...great job men!

Perfectly stated.

That bar is a deep dive compared to what we saw in that video, in those days. It could be done again, as we will have the talent....

An analysis of the Oregon State and Cal game would be needed to see where and why the confidence was lost in Tyler, as well as the good components of the USC win. By the bowl game--the feeling the coaches had was already set by play in the prior three games, thus what might appear to be a short hook, was perhaps a confirmation of what the coaches saw before or suspected? There is just too much that we fans do not know... I am not saying we should not express an opinion, because that is what we do here, but golly--we were not in the QB room, in the film room or knowing what was really happening. We are guessing...

I loved it, and yet it made me sad. I used to believe in our offense, and knew we would win most of our games. Back then I knew our coach was the smartest one on the sidelines, and now? I miss those days.

This looks like I am going to spend some fun time curled up with...

This is one man's opinion, and while there are some good points--perhaps there are some items left out?