University of Oregon
7-4, 2-2
California
3-7, 1-2
Ducks Control Cal, 15-5, in Berkeley
04/02/16 | Women's Lacrosse
BERKELEY, Calif. – The Oregon lacrosse team got back on track Friday, besting California, 15-5, at Kabam Field. With the win, Oregon moved to 7-4 and 2-2 in Mountain Pacific Sports Federation play.
How It Happened: The game was back and forth in the early going, with Oregon's Bella Pyne getting on the board first, scoring the 20th goal of her junior season. After nearly five scoreless minutes, the Bears would respond with an unassisted goal from Meredith Haggerty at the 22:24 mark of the first half.
Freshman Shannon Williams put the Ducks back up less than a minute later off a dish from NCAA assist leader Cambi Cukar. After Cal's Kate Mattimore tied the game up yet again with 16:51 to play in the half, Williams wasted no time putting in another quick strike that would give Oregon the lead for good.
Williams' goal jumpstarted an 8-0 run for the Ducks, allowing Oregon to take control. Freshman Madeline Reece joined in on the scoring on an 8-meter free position attempt to put the Ducks up 4-2. Sophomore Modly tallied a couple of consecutive goals, one coming off an assist from senior Carly O'Connell, to further extend the Oregon advantage.
Rachel Steinberg netted a goal at the 9:49 mark that would be the final score of the half for either team. The Ducks carried a 7-2 lead into the locker room. Draws were huge in the first half, as the Ducks collected nine draw controls to the Bears' one. Oregon recorded 16 shots on goal in the period, while limiting Cal to only three.
The Ducks tacked on three more goals in the first six-and-a-half minutes of the second half, led by Williams' third of the game off an assist from Cukar. Cukar tallied a goal of her own not long before Modly capped off the run with a score off a pass from Mariah Gatti.
After a 27-minute scoring drought, Cal appeared to show signs of life, running off three unanswered in just under five minutes to cut the Oregon lead to 10-5 with 14:37 to play. Senior Holly Johnson halted the run, however, putting in a free position goal that would be the first of five straight for the Ducks to end the game and put the Bears away.
Steinberg, O'Connell and Gatti each scored off assists from O'Connell, Pyne and Cukar, respectively, to increase the cushion to 14-5 with two minutes left. Freshman Nikita Bagg put the exclamation mark on the win on an unassisted goal, her second score of the season.
Jenna Morris played all 60 minutes in goal for Oregon, allowing only five goals, while collecting five saves to earn her seventh win of the season.
Who Stood Out: Modly and Williams each scored three goals apiece, while Modly also picked up a team-high three draw controls. Cambi Cukar recorded three assists and a goal for four points to lead the Ducks. On defense, Ali Scharkey recorded two ground balls and two draw controls. Katie Marlatt picked up a ground ball and three draw controls to tie Modly for the team high, along with a caused turnover. Devan Michael caused a team-high two Bear turnovers.
Notable: Carly O'Connell's two assists tonight moved her into second in the program record book for career assists with 79, passing Kristina Barrett (78, 2009-12) … Oregon held the Bears to only 12 shots, a season low for any Duck opponent this season, and outshot Cal 31-12 … Bella Pyne extended her scoring streak to 11 games … Cambi Cukar recorded her 35th assist of the season, putting her one away from matching her freshman total, and nine away from breaking Shannon Propst's single-season assist record … Through 11 games, Cukar's 35 assists this season rank fifth in the program record book, giving her two of the top five single-season marks … The 10-point win ties the largest winning margin of the season for Oregon (16-6, vs. LIU Brooklyn) … The Ducks won draw controls, 16-6, and were a near perfect 14-of-15 on clears.
Up Next: The Ducks head to Moraga, Calif., to take on Saint Mary's Sunday at noon.
