Ducks Continue Homestand Wednesday Against George Mason
03/08/16 | Women's Lacrosse
EUGENE – The Oregon lacrosse team will play its third game in five days on Wednesday at 5 p.m. when it hosts George Mason at Papé Field. The game marks the third game of a five-game homestand for the Ducks.
Fans with a Bi-Mart card will receive $2 admission to the game.
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 3-2 start to the 2016 season after a loss to High Point on Monday.
The Ducks' offensive attack is led by sophomore Cambi Cukar. Cukar has paced the Ducks in points this season with a team-high 22 (4g, 18a). Bella Pyne and Holly Johnson are the Ducks' leaders in goals with 12 goals each through five games. Freshman Shannon Williams has also been a major contributor this season with 14 points (9g, 5a) 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).
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.
EYEING THE PATRIOTS
The Ducks and Patriots will play the first game between the two programs this Wednesday.
George Mason (1-0) is coming off a 10-7 victory against Lafayette on Saturday to open its season. The Patiots never trailed in the game and scored four of the last five goals of the game to take the win. Kathryn Kelehan (2g, 1a) leads the Patriots in points through one game. Alexa McGovern, Brooke Lorber and Hannah Warpinski each have two goals to their credit as well.
Goalie McKenzie Duffy clocked a full 60 minutes in goal for the Patriots in the win over Lafayette, allowing seven goals and recording six saves.
Head coach Jessy Morgan is in her second season at the helm of the George Mason lacrosse program. Morgan is assisted by second-year assistant coaches Mary Cuddihy and Greg Danto, as well as first-year volunteer assistant Rachel Obregon.
DUCKS BEAT BLACKBIRDS IN HOME OPENER
The Oregon women's lacrosse team got back on track on Saturday, handling LIU Brooklyn, 16-6, in the 2016 home opener.
The Ducks (3-1) jumped ahead of the Blackbirds early, using goals from Bella Pyne and Carly O'Connell in the first two-plus minutes to gain an early 2-0 advantage.
LIU's Kathryn Harvey broke the mini Oregon run at the 26:52 mark of the first half, but Oregon would respond with another two-straight scores. A yellow card from LIU's Tori Shinkowitz allowed Cambi Cukar a free position attempt and a man-up opportunity on which the sophomore converted. Pyne would make it 4-1 after scoring off an assist from freshman Shannon Williams with 19:07 to go in the first.
The Blackbirds scored two straight over the next eight minutes to cut the Oregon lead to one, but the Ducks scored three of the last four to end the half. Williams netted the first before Pyne added her third goal of the game. Rachel Steinberg capped the Oregon run off a feed from Natalie Modly to put Oregon up 7-3 with 4:19 to play in the period.
The Ducks led 7-4 heading into the locker room, as LIU's Mary McQueen scored a free position goal with 3:45 to play in the frame that served as the final goal of the half.
Oregon opened the second half on a 7-0 run over the first 15 minutes. Holly Johnson sparked the Duck run, netting a score off a pass from Carly O'Connell. Steinberg erupted for three of the next four goals, thanks in part to assists from Cukar and Pyne. Mariah Gatti added a pair of goals during the stretch, and Evan Murphy scored the second goal of her season to put Oregon up 14-4 with 15:21 to play.
LIU added a couple more goals from Jillian May and Kathryn Harvey, but it wouldn't be enough as the Ducks held the Blackbirds scoreless over the final 8:46, while Williams and Lindsey Kail scored the daggers to seal up the 16-6 victory.
Who Stood Out: Rachel Steinberg scored a career-high five goals, and was a key cog in Oregon's 7-0 run to start the half. Bella Pyne recorded her second hat trick of the season, along with an assist. Cambi Cukar (1g, 3a) added four points, while Carly O'Connell (1g, 2a) and Shannon Williams (2g, 1a) each had three. Six Ducks forced two turnovers each to help lead the Duck defense, which forced a season-high 19 turns. Jenna Morris picked up her third win of the season, grabbing three saves and allowing only five goals in 46:19 to move to 3-1 on her season.
DUCKS FALL TO HIGH POINT, 12-7
The Oregon women's lacrosse team dropped a tough contest to High Point, 12-7, on Monday night at Papé Field.
How It Happened: The Ducks (3-2) struck first with a Carly O'Connell goal off the assist from Natalie Modly at the 26:24 mark; however, not even a minute later, the Panthers tied it at one with a score by Allie Foard.
High Point scored again on a free position shot to take their first lead of the game before sophomore Mariah Gatti answered with a free position goal of her own to even the score again.
The Panthers scored four of the next five goals of the game over the next 12 minutes to take control of the game and put the Ducks in a 6-3 hole. Holly Johnson scored the lone Duck goal over that stretch off a Cambi Cukar assist.
The Ducks were able to claw back before the half, thanks to goals from Cukar, Rachel Steinberg and Shannon Williams. Oregon led a 3-1 run over the final four-and-a-half minutes of the opening period to trail 7-6 at the break.
High Point outscored the Ducks, 5-1, in the second half to take the 12-7 lead. Oregon's only goal of the second half came on a man-up goal from Bella Pyne, who scored off Cukar's third assist of the night.
WILLIAMS NAMED MPSF ROOKIE OF THE WEEK
Freshman Shannon Williams was named MPSF Rookie of the Week, the conference announced Tuesday. Williams (Bel Air, MD)scored three points on two goals and one assist, while picking up one ground ball and causing a career-high two turnovers in the Ducks' 16-6 home-opening win over LIU Brooklyn (Mar. 5). This is Williams' first career MPSF honor.
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 (3.12), while sitting in the top five in points per game (2nd, 2.91), assists (3rd, 75), assists per game (2nd, 1.29), draw controls (2nd, 181) and caused turnovers per game (3rd, 1.00) . With only one season under her belt, Cambi Cukar has already broken into the top 10 in career assists. With 18 assists this season, Cukar currently has 54 assists in her career, passing Jana Drummond (2009-12), Nikki Puszcz (2011-14) and Alison Leiner (2005-07) for seventh. The sophomore recorded the fourth-most assists in a single season in program history as a freshman in 2015.
CAMBI CUKAR - THE ART OF THE ASSIST
Cambi Cukar has had a nice start to her sophomore season, leading the Ducks in points with 22 (4g, 18a). Cukar ranks first in the MPSF and second in the nation in assists (18) and second in assists per game (3.60). 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 first in the MPSF in assists per game, passing off seven 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 (5) and seventh in assists per game (1.00) so far this season, while Carly O'Connell ranks eighth among active career leaders in assists (75).
FEARLESS FRESHMAN
Freshman attacker Shannon Williams has been a consistent presence on the Oregon offense so far this season, and showed that again on last week at William & Mary, recording career highs of four points (3g, 1a), two ground balls and a caused turnover. Williams' three goals were also a career high. All three of Williams' goals came in the second half of Sunday's game, including a go-ahead goal off an assist from sophomore Cambi Cukar to put the Ducks up 13-12 with 8:07 to play.
SCORE FAST, SCORE OFTEN
Averaging 13.20 goals per game, the Ducks rank 16th in the country and third in the MPSF in scoring offense. Junior Bella Pyne and senior Holly Johnson lead the Ducks in goals this season with 12 each. Johnson and Pyne's goal totals rank fourth in the MPSF, while their average of 2.4 goals per game rank third.
POINTS ON POINTS
The Ducks rank 11th in the nation and third in the MPSF in points per game, averaging 20.20 each contest through five games this season. Sophomore Cambi Cukar (4g, 18a), junior Bella Pyne (12g, 2a) and freshman Shannon Williams (9g, 5a) lead the Ducks in points. Cukar ranks first in the MPSF in points, while Pyne and Williams rank 10th. Cukar also ranks 25th in the nation in points per game.
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.
