EUGENE, Ore. – Kess Elmore scored in her first match of the season and Leah Freeman made a career-high 14 saves – one shy of the school record – as Oregon upended No. 15 Washington 2-0 Friday night in front of a boisterous crowd of 807 at Papé Field.
The Ducks (3-2-4, 1-0-0) snapped a six-match losing streak to the Huskies while handing UW (6-1-2, 0-1-0) its first loss of the season. It was also Freeman’s 17th career shutout, tying Abby Steele (2011-14) for the school record.
“(Freeman)’s probably one of the top couple of goalkeepers in the country,” said Oregon coach Graeme Abel. “She knows what I think about her in terms of what she does for this team, on and off the field, not only on the technical side and the tactical side, she’s grown as a leader every single day, she’s maturing as a person. So, she’s a great member to this team, and we’re all super proud of her.”
How it Happened: Oregon utilized Freeman’s strong leg to initiate a give-and-go goal in the 11th minute. Freeman drilled a goal kick well into Washington territory and Ajanae Respass won the ball 35 yard out from the Huskies’ goal. She slipped a pass to Kaitlyn Paculba who was breaking free down the right side. Paculba carried the ball to the end line before feeding a pass back to Respass, who was crashing down on the near post.
Respass then lined a shot across the goal and into the far side of the net. It…
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