University of Oregon
6-4, 1-2MPSF
USC
9-0, 3-0MPSF
Duck Offense Stymied in Loss to No. 8 USC
03/27/16 | Women's Lacrosse
LOS ANGELES, Calif. – The Oregon lacrosse team fell, 17-4, at No. 8 USC Sunday afternoon at McAlister field.
How It Happened: The Ducks (6-4, 1-2 MPSF) were matched up against the stingiest defense in the country, as the Trojans had only allowed 4.63 goals per game heading into Sunday's contest. Oregon battled and controlled the ball offensively for much of the game, but couldn't break through.
Oregon jumped out to an early 2-1 lead behind a pair of goals from Shannon Williams. The Ducks were patient offensively, and it paid dividends early, as Williams got on the board two minutes into the game off an assist from sophomore Cambi Cukar. After a counter from USC's Caroline deLyra, Williams scored an unassisted goal to retake the lead with 22:46 to play in the first half.
After the Ducks held the Trojans' second-ranked scoring offense to one goal over the first 14 minutes of play, USC opened up a 6-0 run lasting just under 15 minutes to seize control of the game for good with a 7-2 lead. Michaela Michael led the run for the Trojans, scoring three of her seven goals during the stretch.
Carly O'Connell fired a pass inside to Rachel Steinberg who scored to break the Trojan run with a minute-and-a-half until halftime, but USC had the final word of the half after deLyra netted her third of the game to push the deficit to 8-3 at halftime.
USC scored three unanswered to open the second half to push the lead to 11-3 before Bella Pyne converted off an assist from Cukar to make it 11-4 with 22:53 to play.
The Trojans put away hopes of an Oregon run, however, scoring six unanswered to end the game and seal the win.
Notable: The last time the Ducks lost by double-digits was last season at No. 12 Stony Brook (16-3) ... Bella Pyne extended her scoring streak to 10 straight games … Today's game marked only the second time this season the Ducks have been outshot by an opponent and first since the team's loss at William & Mary.
Up Next: The Ducks head to the Bay Area next weekend for matchups with California and St. Mary's. The team will open the weekend with the Bears on Friday at 5 p.m.
