University of Oregon
9-7
Colorado
12-4
Ducks Fall to Buffs, Will Play as No. 6 Seed in MPSF Tournament
04/24/16 | Women's Lacrosse
EUGENE – The Oregon lacrosse team fell, 14-9, to Colorado on Senior Day Sunday afternoon at Papé Field, and will compete as the No. 6 seed in next weekend's MPSF Tournament in Stanford, Calif.
Sophomore Cambi Cukar recorded two assists to bring her season total to 46 and surpass Shannon Propst for the single-season school record.
How It Happened: After tying the record on Friday, Cukar didn't wait long into Sunday's game to set the new program-high assist mark. Less than 30 seconds into the game, the sophomore dished a nice pass inside to junior Rachel Steinberg who rifled the ball past Colorado goalie Paige Soenksen to give the Ducks an early 1-0 lead.
The Buffaloes would respond, however, netting five unanswered over the next 16 minutes to jump out to a 5-1 advantage.
Freshman Shannon Williams slowed the Colorado run with a free position goal at the 12:33 mark, but the Buffaloes ran off four more consecutive goals to hold a seven-goal edge with 7:17 to play in the first half.
Oregon scored the final three goals of the half to make a run and cut the Colorado lead to 9-5 at the break. Playing in her final game at Papé Field, it was senior Carly O'Connell that broke the Buffalo run off an assist from freshman Madeline Reece. O'Connell then assisted inside to Bella Pyne with under two minutes left in the frame, before senior Holly Johnson closed out the period strong for the Ducks by converting on a free position opportunity with 46 seconds to play.
Led by Williams, the Ducks opened the second half on a 3-1 run to slice Colorado's advantage to two. Cukar's second assist of the day went to Williams just under two minutes into the period. After the Buffaloes answered with a strike from Johnna Fusco, Steinberg and Williams each netted free position shots to cap the run.
Colorado held off the Oregon surge, outscoring the Ducks 4-1 over the final 16 minutes of play. Evan Murphy was able to briefly disrupt the Buffalo run off an assist from Carly O'Connell that cut the deficit to 11-9, but Colorado would score the final three goals of the game to come up with the 14-9 win.
Who Stood Out: Cambi Cukar provided the highlight of the day with her two assists to break the Oregon single-season record. Shannon Williams led the Ducks' scoring attack with three goals, while Carly O'Connell had a goal and dished off a pair of assists for three points in her final game at Papé Field.
On defense, Natalie Modly was able to pick up two ground balls while causing two Colorado turnovers. Senior Ali Scharkey gathered a team-high three ground balls.
Notable: With one draw control today, Carly O'Connell gathered the 200th draw control of her career, making her only the second Duck in school history to reach that mark (209, Jen May; 2005-08) …O'Connell also recorded her 199th career point today, and will look to become only the second player in program history to reach the 200-point plateau (219, Shannon Propst; 2011-14) next weekend at the MPSF Tournament.
Up Next: The Ducks will compete as the No. 6 seed in next weekend's MPSF Tournament. Oregon is set to face third-seeded Colorado on Thursday.
