Ducks, Buffs Tangle in MPSF Quarterfinals

EUGENE – The Oregon lacrosse team heads to Stanford, Calif., this weekend to compete in the MPSF Tournament at Stanford's Cagan Stadium. In a rematch of last Sunday's regular season finale, the sixth-seeded Ducks will face No. 3 seed Colorado in the tournament quarterfinals on Thursday at 4 p.m. PT. If victorious, Oregon will advance to face No. 2 seed Stanford in the MPSF semifinals on Friday at 7 p.m. PT.

ABOUT THE DUCKS

In her 12th year at the helm of the Oregon lacrosse program, head coach Jen Beck's Ducks enter the 2016 postseason after posting a 9-7 overall record and a 4-5 mark in MPSF play. Oregon is coming off a pair of losses last weekend to Denver and Colorado in the final weekend of the regular season.

The Ducks' offensive attack is led by sophomore Cambi Cukar. Cukar has paced the Ducks in points this season with a team-high 54 points (8g, Oregon-record 46a). The Ducks boast a balanced scoring attack with six players having tallied 20 goals this season, and five that have netted 25. Freshman Shannon Williams is the Ducks' leader in scoring with 28 goals in the regular season, along with 13 assists.

Oregon's defense is anchored by seniors Ali Scharkey, Katie Marlatt, Jackie Moccia and Jenna Morris. Scharkey leads the Ducks in ground balls this season with 29, while Moccia has picked up 19 along with 13 caused turnovers. Morris has seen the bulk of the time in goal for the Ducks, clocking 794:39 , allowing 10.04 goals per 60 minutes while recording 83 saves.

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.

DUCKS IN THE MPSF TOURNAMENT

The Ducks have posted an 11-9 all-time record in the MPSF Tournament, and have made three consecutive appearances. Oregon won the MPSF Tournament in 2012, defeating California and Stanford to take home the conference tournament title and clinch an NCAA Tournament berth for the first time in program history.

Last season, Oregon fell in the MPSF quarterfinals to No. 3 seed Denver, 11-5.

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 (3.00), while sitting in the top five in points (2nd, 199), points per game (2nd, 2.83), assists (2nd, 86), assists per game (2nd, 1.23), draw controls (2nd, 200) caused turnovers, (4th, 63) and caused turnovers per game (5th, 0.91) . With only one season under her belt, Cambi Cukar has already broken into the top three in career assists. With 46 assists this season, Cukar currently has 84 assists in her career, passing Kristina Barrett (2009-12) for third. With 46 assists and counting this season, the sophomore set a new program record for helpers in a single season after recording the fourth-most assists in a single season in program history as a freshman in 2015.

Senior Ali Scharkey broke into the program's top 10 in ground balls this season, collecting the 104th of her career to pass Jana Drummond (102, 2009-12) for ninth. With 52 career caused turnovers, the senior is only one away from emerging into the top 10 in that category as well.

Jenna Morris is now fourth in the program record book in saves with 138. With her win over UC Davis earlier this month, Morris passed Janelle Parker for fourth in that category as well.

WILLIAMS NAMED MPSF ROOKIE OF THE WEEK

For the third time this season, freshman Shannon Williams was named MPSF Rookie of the Week, the conference announced following a stellar week in a home win over UC Davis. Williams added three goals and three assists for a career-high six points in Sunday's win over UC Davis. Recording all of her points after halftime, Williams was instrumental in an 11-1 second-half run that put the game in hand for the Ducks. Williams is the second-leading point scorer on the Duck squad this season with 25 goals and 13 assists.

CAMBI CUKAR - THE ART OF THE ASSIST

Cambi Cukar has had an impressive sophomore season, leading the Ducks in points with 54 (8g, 46a). Cukar ranks second in the nation in assists (46) and assists per game (2.88). The sophomore recorded her 45th assist of the season to break Shannon Propst's school record and has recorded three or more in 10 of the Ducks' 16 games.

SPREADING THE LOVE

Cukar isn't the only Duck that likes to share the lacrosse ball. In fact, as a team, the Ducks rank 13th in the country and second in the MPSF in assists per game, passing off 6.25 per contest. Senior Carly O'Connell has helped out in that regard as well. O'Connell ranks sixth in the MPSF in assists (15) so far this season, and also ranks tenth among active career leaders in assists (86).

DEFENSE REAPING REWARDS

The Oregon defense has been proactive in causing turnovers. This season, the Ducks average 10.43 cause turnovers per game, good for 15th in the country. Junior Bella Pyne has led the Ducks in the category this season, having averaged 1.13 caused turns per contest during the regular season. Pyne ranks 14th in the MPSF in caused turnovers per game.

SCORE FAST, SCORE OFTEN

Averaging 12 goals per game, the Ducks rank 24th in the country and fourth in the MPSF in scoring offense. Shannon Williams is the Ducks' leader in goals with 28 in the regular season. The Ducks boast a balanced scoring attack with six players having tallied 20 goals or more this season, and five with 25 or more. Carly O'Connell (25), Rachel Steinberg (25), Holly Johnson (26), Bella Pyne (25) and Mariah Gatti (20) are the other five Ducks to eclipse the 20-goal mark this season.

POINTS ON POINTS

The Ducks rank 19th in the nation and third in the MPSF in points per game, averaging 18.25 each contest so far this season. Sophomore Cambi Cukar (8g, 46a) and freshman Shannon Williams (28g, 13a) lead the Ducks in points. Cukar ranks fourth in the MPSF in points, while Williams ranks eighth. Carly O'Connell is also in the to 10 in the conference in points with 40 (25g, 15a).

DUCKS FALL TO BUFFS ON SENIOR DAY, 14-9

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 set a new single-season school record.

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. 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.

DUCKS STUMBLE AGAINST NO. 10 STANFORD

The Oregon lacrosse team dropped a tough, 11-9 game to MPSF foe Denver Friday night at Papé Field, after a Carly O'Connell-led comeback attempt fell short.

History was made on Friday night, as sophomore Cambi Cukar dished off three assists to reach 44 for the season and tie Shannon Propst's single-season school record.

Denver netted the first two goals of the game, drawing strikes from Elizabeth Behrins and Nicole Martindale in the opening five minutes of the game before Rachel Steinberg scored on Cukar's first assist of the night to get the Ducks (9-6, 4-4 MPSF) .

The Pioneers made it 3-1 with a Christa Reese unassisted goal with 17 minutes to play in the first half, but Oregon's Natalie Modly converted on a free position opportunity just under five minutes later to pull the Ducks back to within one. Bella Pyne then notched a Cukar-assisted tally with 5:46 on the clock to tie the game at three.

The Ducks couldn't get back on the board in the final five-plus minutes of the first half, and after two Denver goals to wrap up the period, trailed 5-3 going into the locker room. Denver added another goal out of the gates in the second half, as Reese netted her second of the night.

Holly Johnson cut the deficit to 6-4 on Cukar's record-tying assist, but Denver would answer, scoring three quick consecutive goals to inflate the lead back to five. Soon after, Pyne and Reese traded goals, making it 10-5 in favor of the Pioneers with 12:40 to play.

With their backs against the wall, the Ducks wouldn't quit. Led by senior standout Carly O'Connell, the Ducks played with fire in mounting a near comeback that would fall just short.

O'Connell ended the game on a personal 4-1 run to cut the Denver lead to 11-9 before the final buzzer sounded. The senior willed herself to an unassisted goal with 10:12 remaining before netting a shot off a nice pass from freshman Madeline Reece. Just 20 seconds later, O'Connell earned an 8-meter attempt and would rifle that past Denver goalie Maddie Stevenson as well.

Denver's Caitlin Derry halted the Oregon run momentarily off an assist from Sarah Kasun to stretch the Denver advantage back to 11-8, but O'Connell scored on another free position shot with 2:22 to play and pull the Ducks back to within two.

Oregon got opportunities in the final minutes of the game thanks to strong efforts by multiple players on the draw and defensive side of the ball, but couldn't convert, falling to the Pioneers, 11-9.

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 announced 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.

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.