Ducks Wrap Homestand with Marist
03/17/16 | Women's Lacrosse
EUGENE – The Oregon lacrosse team finishes up its five-game homestand this weekend when it hosts Marist on Saturday at 1 p.m. at Papé Field. Fans in attendance can use their ticket to get into Sunday's home baseball game against Utah.
ABOUT THE DUCKS
In her 12th year at the helm of the Oregon lacrosse program, head coach Jen Beck's Ducks are off to a 5-2 start to the 2016 season after a 15-10 win over Fresno State in their MPSF opener on Sunday.
The Ducks' offensive attack is led by sophomore Cambi Cukar. Cukar has paced the Ducks in points this season with a team-high 28 (4g, NCAA-leading 24a). Holly Johnson is the Ducks' leader in goals with 16 goals through seven games. Freshman Shannon Williams has also been a major contributor this season with 21 points (13g, 8a) in her first games as a Duck.
Oregon's defense is anchored by seniors Ali Scharkey, Katie Marlatt, Jackie Moccia and Jenna Morris. Moccia led the Ducks in groundballs last season with 37, while Scharkey wasn't far behind with 32. Both finished with 15 caused turnovers. Morris recorded 12 appearances in goal for the Ducks in 2015, recording 48 saves and the second-lowest single-season goals against average in program history (8.84). Morris is off to a good start to her senior year, recording 38 saves and a 9.90 goals against average through seven games this season.
This offseason saw the arrival of seven freshmen to the Oregon lacrosse program, while Beck also announced the addition of former player Colleen Taggart to the staff as an assistant coach after the departure of seven-year assistant Jen Derby last fall.
RED FOXES AT A GLANCE
Saturday will mark the fifth meeting between Marist and Oregon, with the Red Foxes taking the last game of the series in a 9-5 win in Pughkeepsie, N.Y. The Ducks have been victorious in the other three meetings, however, the most recent being a 17-6 rout in Lake Oswego, Ore.
Marist (3-3) is coming off a 4-3 win over Binghamton in Poughkeepsie last weekend. The Red Foxes are 0-2 away from home this season, taking road losses to No. 3 Syracuse (16-5) and Yale (11-8). Allison Gionta is Marist's leader in points, racking up 31 (19g, 12a), which is good for 10th in the nation. Abigail Witczak is the Red Foxes' go-to goalie, clocking 338:48 in goal so far this season, allowing 58 goals (10.27 GaAvg) and recording 51 saves (.468 SavePct).
The Red Foxes are top three in the MAAC in assists per game (3rd, 4.50), saves percentage (3rd, .435) and turnovers per game (1st, 11.33). Their turnovers per game mark also rankes eighth in the country.
Head coach Jessica O'Brien is in her sixth season at the helm of the Marist lacrosse program. Third-year assistant coach Jana Drummond played four seasons at Oregon under coach Jen Beck, and remains the Ducks' all-time leading scorer with 146 goals.
OREGON HANDLES BULLDOGS IN MPSF OPENER
The Oregon lacrosse team used 11 unanswered goals to pick up its first win in Mountain Pacific Sports Federation play on Sunday, defeating Fresno State, 15-10, at Papé Field.
Senior Carly O'Connell put the Ducks (5-2, 1-0 MPSF) up early, firing in a shot off a pass from national assist leader Cambi Cukar for Oregon's first goal of the game. Fresno would answer, however, getting a Lindsay Hobson free position goal less than a minute later to spark a 3-0 run that gave the Bulldogs a 3-1 edge with 12:57 to play in the first half.
Held scoreless for over 12 minutes after O'Connell got the Ducks on the board, The Ducks needed a response. Senior Holly Johnson answered the call, netting a score off an assist from sophomore Mariah Gatti that was the first of 11 straight for Oregon. Freshman Madeline Reece recorded the first goal of her career, scoring the equalizer on a free position attempt less than two minutes later. Bella Pyne gave the Ducks the lead for good on a free position goal with 7:04 to play in the half.
Rachel Steinberg scored next off an assist from freshman Shannon Williams before O'Connell scored her second of the day. Natalie Modly tallied the first of her career-high four goals off Cukar's second assist to give Oregon a 7-3 lead heading into the half. Oregon outshot the Bulldogs, 20-6, in the first half, and held Fresno State scoreless for the final 12:57 of the period.
The Ducks continued their run into the second half, adding on another five unanswered scores to take a 12-3 advantage.Modly added another score just 42 seconds into the half, before O'Connell tacked on two more with a couple of free position goals. Williams found the back of the net off a helper from Rachel Steinberg with 17:35 left, preceding a Modly unassisted tally just 25 seconds later to cap Oregon's run.
Kyleigh Westgarth ended the 25-minute drought for Fresno State, putting in an unassisted goal with 16:41 left to play.Oregon piled on with a Modly goal, followed by two more Cukar assists to Williams and Johnson, to take a 15-4 lead with 12 minutes to go. Fresno State finished the game with six straight goals, but it wouldn't be enough, as Oregon carried the day with the 15-10 win.
STRONG SECOND HALF LIFTS OREGON PAST GEORGE MASON
The Oregon women's lacrosse team used a second-half burst to knock off George Mason, 15-9, last Wednesday evening at Papé Field.
The Ducks (4-2) and Patriots traded goals for much of the first half. George Mason scored three of the first four goals of the game to take an early 3-1 lead just under 10 minutes into the contest. It was Natalie Modly that got the Ducks on the board with an unassisted goal at the 24:21 mark.
From that point, the Ducks added a score from Carly O'Connell off an assist from freshman Shannon Williams and a free position goal from Rachel Steinberg to knot the game at three. Mason would score again with a Brooke Lorber goal off the feed from Jacquelyn Spalding, but Nikita Bagg rifled in her first-career goal off a free-position shot to tie the game yet again with 10:34 remaining in the period.
After the Patriots found the back of the net again, this time on an unassisted goal from Alexa McGovern, the Ducks used tallies from Shannon Williams and Holly Johnson to take their first lead of the game with just over a minute-and-a-half to play.
George Mason's Melissa Lobaccaro was able to score off a free position shot with less than three seconds to go in the half to tie the game at six heading into the locker room.
Oregon took control of the game in the opening minutes of the second half, rattling off four-straight goals in the first 10-plus minutes of the frame to jump out to a 10-6 lead.
Williams sparked the Duck run with a free position goal that would put Oregon up for good. Less than three minutes later, O'Connell spun around her defender and attacked the goal from the right side to net her second goal of the night. Johnson also found back of the net for the second time of the evening before Mariah Gatti finished off an assist from Steinberg to cap the run.
After George Mason's Hannah Warpinski broke the Ducks' surge with 17:46 to play, Bella Pyne and Natalie Modly quelled any hopes of a Patriot run with unassisted goals of their own.
WILLIAMS NAMED MPSF ROOKIE OF THE WEEK
For the second straight week, freshman Shannon Williams was named MPSF Rookie of the Week, the conference announced Tuesday following a stellar week in home wins over George Mason (Mar. 9) and Fresno State (Mar. 13). Williams accumulated eight points on five goals and three assists, four ground balls, and four caused turnovers through those two games and another home outing vs. High Point (Mar. 7). Williams has been a consistent presence on the Duck offense, adding 13 goals and eight assists and averaging three points per game. The freshman has recorded three or more points in six of the Ducks' seven games this season.
WATCHING THE RECORD BOOK
Senior Carly O'Connell is climbing up the Oregon record book in a multitude of categories. O' Connell tops the program list in draw controls per game (3.05), while sitting in the top five in points per game (2nd, 2.91), assists (3rd, 75), assists per game (2nd, 1.25), draw controls (2nd, 183) and caused turnovers per game (3rd, 0.97) . With only one season under her belt, Cambi Cukar has already broken into the top 10 in career assists. With 20 assists this season, Cukar currently has 60 assists in her career, passing Jen (May) Derby (57, 2005-08) for sixth. The sophomore recorded the fourth-most assists in a single season in program history as a freshman in 2015.
Jenna Morris is now fifth in the program record book in saves with 93. With her win over Fresno State last weekend, the senior took sole possession of the No. 5 spot on the program list.
CAMBI CUKAR - THE ART OF THE ASSIST
Cambi Cukar has had a nice start to her sophomore season, leading the Ducks in points with 28 (4g, 24a). Cukar ranks first in the nation in assists (24) and second in assists per game (3.43). The sophomore tied her career high in assists at Detroit, dishing off six.
SPREADING THE LOVE
Cukar isn't the only Duck that likes to share the lacrosse ball. In fact, as a team, the Ducks rank sixth in the country and second in the MPSF in assists per game, passing off 6.86 per contest. Freshman Shannon Williams has helped out in that regard since joining the team this offseason. Williams ranks sixth in the MPSF in assists (8) and ninth in assists per game (1.14) so far this season, while Carly O'Connell ranks eighth among active career leaders in assists (75).
DEFENSE REAPING REWARDS
The Oregon defense has been proactive in causing turnovers. This season, the Ducks average 11.29 cause turnovers per game, good for 10th in the country. Junior Bella Pyne has led the Ducks in the category this season, averaging 1.86 caused turns per contest through seven games. Pyne ranks 29th in the country in caused turnovers.
SCORE FAST, SCORE OFTEN
Averaging 13.71 goals per game, the Ducks rank 10th in the country and third in the MPSF in scoring offense. Holly Johnson is the Ducks' leader in goals with 16 goals through six games. The senior's 16 goals rank fourth in the MPSF. With 14 goals each, Bella Pyne and Rachel Steinberg rank fifth in the conference in scoring.
POINTS ON POINTS
The Ducks rank seventh in the nation and third in the MPSF in points per game, averaging 20.57 each contest through seven games this season. Sophomore Cambi Cukar (4g, 24a) and freshman Shannon Williams (13g, 8a) lead the Ducks in points. Cukar ranks first in the MPSF in points, while Williams ranks 5th. Cukar also ranks 21st in the nation in points.
LACROSSE TO BECOME PAC-12 SPORT IN 2018
The Pac-12 Conference will add women's lacrosse for the 2017-18 season as the conference's 12th sponsored women's sport and 23rd overall. Arizona State annoounced it would add women's lacrosse in 2018, giving the Pac-12 six teams, the minimum number to qualify for a conference championship and NCAA tournament automatic-qualifying bid.
BECK ADDS TAGGART TO STAFF
Oregon lacrosse head coach Jen Beck announced the addition of Colleen Taggart to the team's coaching staff as an assistant coach in October.
Taggart was a member of the Oregon lacrosse team from 2009-2012 and lettered all four years with 63 starts in 64 appearances as a defender for the Ducks. She also served as an undergraduate assistant coach during the Ducks' 2013 campaign. The Bay Shore, N.Y., native was a rock for the Oregon defense, earning first-team All-Mountain Pacific Sports Federation selections her sophomore and senior seasons. Taggart was also named to the MPSF All-Tournament Team in 2012 after helping lead the Ducks to their first MPSF Tournament title. A leader on and off the field, she was voted team captain three times by her teammates.
Three seasons removed from her final season at Oregon, Taggart still sits at 10th in the program record books for ground balls per game, having averaged 1.3 ground balls a game throughout the course of her career. Taggart graduated from Oregon in 2013 with a Bachelor of Arts in psychology and sociology.
DUCKS PICKED SIXTH IN MPSF
The Oregon women's lacrosse team was picked to finish sixth in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation preseason coaches' poll, the league announced earlier this month.
Defending MPSF champion Stanford was selected to finish first, garnering 79 points and seven first-place votes in the poll. Runner-up USC was picked second with 75 points and three first-place votes, while Denver came in third with 63 points.Colorado (57) and San Diego State (46), who tied for fourth in the conference last season, came in fourth and fifth in the poll, respectively. Oregon was slotted just one point behind the fifth-place Aztecs with 45 points. California (31), UC Davis (26), Fresno State (19), and St. Mary's (9) rounded out the 2016 coaches' poll.
BECK SIGNS EIGHT TO NLI'S
Oregon women's lacrosse head coach Jen Beck announced the signing of eight players to National Letters of Intent last November. Julia Bolte, Emma Bowman, Madeleine Clark, Katie Donhauser, Gracyn Elliott, Caroline Jaworski, Jennifer Lanuza and Lindsey White will join the Ducks for the 2017 season.
