University of Oregon
2-1
San Diego State
1-2
Oregon's Home Opener Spoiled by San Diego State
03/01/15 | Women's Lacrosse
EUGENE – The Oregon women's lacrosse team had its home opener spoiled by San Diego State, 8-7, in overtime on a beautiful Saturday afternoon at Papé Field. Saturday's matchup with the Aztecs was also the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation opener for both teams.
How It Happened: The Ducks (2-1, 0-1 MPSF) struck first less than three minutes into the game when Olivia Pyne found Holly Johnson, who beat her defender cutting across the crease.
The score would remain 1-0 in favor of Oregon for over 10 minutes before San Diego State's (1-2, 1-0 MPSF) Alex Watson was able to score the equalizer at the 17:33 mark. Oregon put two more goals up on the board and took the 3-1 lead into halftime after Cambi Cukar's and Pyne found the back of the net.
Hayley Milner scorched a shot past Kristina Reeves 1:04 into the second half and extended the UO lead to 4-1. Sophie Koubek responded a few minutes later for the Aztecs, netting back-to-back goals to bring SDSU within 4-3. UO added another pair of goals thanks to Casey Brogan and Milner to push the lead back up to 6-3 for the home team.
With Oregon leading 7-4 and 13:55 left to play in the game, the Aztecs mounted their comeback. The SDSU defense forced a few turnovers late in second half and allowed its offense to tie the game up at 7-7 after Christina Ricciardulli's free-position goal with 7:28 left to play.
Both teams held on to the ball for a high-percentage shot in the final minutes of regulation, but a late turnover with 38 seconds left to play by the Ducks on the offensive end sent the game into overtime.
In the first overtime period, Ricciardulli, the Aztecs' points leader, was able to win the draw and fire in the eventual game-winning goal with 43 seconds remaining. Brogan had a decent look at the net in the final seconds, but Reeves was able to get a stick on it.
The Ducks had several other opportunities to score after the teams switched sides for the second overtime period, but just couldn't get one past Reeves.
Notes: Oregon is now 6-5 all-time in its home-openers after Saturday's loss to San Diego State…With six draw controls today, Carly O'Connell has passed Nikki Puszcz for third all-time in draw controls for the Ducks with 138 just three games into her junior season…The series record is now tied at 2-2 after SDSU's victory on Saturday…The streak continues for the road team after SDSU came away with the win with neither team able to protect its home field…The last time Oregon fell in overtime was to Colorado, 10-9 in sudden victory, on April 27, 2014, for UO's senior day.
Quotable: “We had great energy in the first half, but definitely handed the ball over on the offensive end a ton. We need to fix our execution once we're on the offensive end, take care of the ball better and create better shot opportunities for ourselves. In the second half, we didn't have as many opportunities because the energy shifted towards San Diego State. So getting the energy back up, getting the ball back into possession of the offense and then taking care of it is something we have to do better.” – UO head coach Jen Beck
Up Next: The Ducks get right back on the saddle at 1 p.m. on Sunday, March 1, when they take on Saint Mary's at Papé Field for another MPSF conference showdown.
