Oregon’s Nicole Garbin is the Soccer America Women’s Player of the Week for leading the Ducks to big wins over No. 3 UCLA, 2-1, and USC, 3-1.
Garbin settled a double overtime thriller with the Bruins, scoring from seven yards out off a throw-in by teammate Allison Newton in the 108th minute to snap UCLA’s 10-match win streak. Two days later, the Ducks completed their first sweep of the Los Angeles schools, as Garbin scored two more goals in a 3-1 win over the Trojans — Oregon’s first against USC.
The victories secured second place in the Pac-10 for Oregon (12-6-2), which had been picked to finish last in the conference. Surprisingly, the Ducks, who had never had a winning season before this year, were overlooked for an NCAA Tournament bid.
With her three goals over the weekend, Garbin broke her own single-season records for goals (12), game-winning goals (9) and points (25). The Hawaiian took sole possession of Oregon’s career goals record with 34.
Garbin was a sixth-year player, having redshirted in 2002 and 2004 after suffering injuries to her left and right knees, respectively.
WOMEN’S PLAYER OF THE WEEK
F Nicole Garbin (Oregon)
WOMEN’S TEAM OF THE WEEK
G Alicia Lugo (UNLV)
D Shelly Moeller (Navy)
M Taryn Hemmings (Denver)
M Maureen Hughes (Saint Louis)
M Ali Krieger (Penn State)
M Jill Porto (UAB)
F Kristen Boujos (Cal State Fullerton)
F Nicole Garbin (Oregon)
F Elizabeth Guess (North Carolina)
F Kerri Hanks (Notre Dame)
F Shavon Knight (Old Dominion)
(For the week ending Nov. 5.)