Head coach Tracy Joyner had a successful first season coaching Oregon soccer, even though it was not necessarily reflected in their 3-10-5 (1-6-4, Big-10) record. Their sole conference win was against the Washington Huskies, who up until that final game of the regular season had been undefeated in Big-10 play. Coach Joyner had a very good defensive team last year, as the 14 of their 18 matches were decided by one goal or a tie. On the season, Oregon gave up just 21 goals – one of their best season defensive efforts,
indeed.
The Ducks scored 42 points total last season, and nearly half of that point total came from So. midfielder Carly Cormack and Jr. forward Lauren Kenny. 6th-year forward Taylor Bryan was also a key offensive contributor.
6th-year goalkeeper Caeley Goldstein was excellent at the net, playing all but 18 minutes the entire season with a save rate of 76.9%.
Of Oregon’s nine principal starters, only four were 4th-6th year players that will move on. In fact, only nine of the 32-player roster were seniors, and four were juniors, so the 2025 squad was a young team that composed themselves well.
Of the juniors, Lauren Kenny and defender Ella Osmussen return. The Ducks brought in three veteran transfers: 6th-year forward Cailin Bloom from Cal, R-Sr. goalkeeper Kailey Kimball from Louisville, and R-Sr. defender Taylor Dever from UC Davis. All three are depth pieces that provide veteran experience that can’t be quantified on a stats sheet.
After the end of the season, Oregon signed 11 players to the program; six forwards, two midfielders, and three defenders.
The Ducks had two exhibition games scheduled last week against Portland and Idaho. The Portland game was cancelled due to unhealthy smoke conditions in Eugene, and Oregon defeated Idaho 2-1 on Saturday.
Oregon opens the regular season tomorrow against Portland State in Hillsboro. Three players, Carly Cormack, Ellie Felt, and Lauren Kenny, were named to the 2026 Big Ten Preseason Watch List.
The Ducks return many of the players that made the 2025 team a defensive standout. Coach Joyner appears to have brought in freshmen that have the potential to add the firepower that Oregon needs to match the excellent defense they showed last season. We’ll get a sense of how that is going, as the Ducks have some challenging non-conference opponents ahead of Big Ten play, with Gonzaga, Santa Clara, San Francisco, Oregon State, and Utah on the slate in the next few weeks.
B1G play begins one month from now beginning with Rutgers on Sept. 10th in Eugene. Oregon’s biggest task at that point will be on improving their offensive output and turning last year’s ties into wins this year.
