Ducks Travel East to No. 12 Towson and George Mason

Saturday, March 25

Towson, Md.

11:30 AM

University of Oregon

Towson

Ducks Travel East to No. 12 Towson and George Mason

03/22/17 | Women's Lacrosse

LAX Notes - Towson & George Mason LAX Notes - Towson & George Mason

OREGON WILL TAKE ON NO. 12 TOWSON (SATURDAY, 11:30 AM) AND GEORGE MASON (MONDAY 3 PM) AS IT CONTINUES ITS EIGHT-GAME ROAD SWING

By: Nate Krueger

EUGENE, Ore. – Coming off a split last weekend with a neutral-site win over Vermont and a road loss at No. 4 Colorado, the Oregon women's lacrosse team will continue its eight-game road swing this weekend as the Ducks travel east to face No. 12/15 Towson and George Mason on Saturday (11:30 a.m.) and Monday (3 p.m.), respectively. Oregon is 3-2 thus far in the eight-game road stretch, and will play its next three on the road out of conference before wrapping up the regular season schedule with four MPSF games in a row.

HOW TO FOLLOW
The Ducks' game at No. 12/15 Towson will be broadcast live on LAX Sports Network, while a link to a live stream for Monday's game will be available on the lacrosse schedule of goducks.com. Links to live stats will also be available on goducks.com, and updates will be provided during each game on Twitter via @OregonWLAX.

WILLIAMS LIGHTING UP THE SCOREBOARD
Sophomore attacker Shannon Williams has been a constant offensive threat for the Ducks this season, and is putting together a terrific sophomore campaign after leading Oregon in goals as a freshman. Williams leads the MPSF and is tied for 12th in the nation with 29 goals, just one shy of her team-leading total from all of last season, and she also leads the MPSF and is tied for 10th in the nation with 43 points, matching her total from 2016. Williams enjoyed a career night in the Ducks' 17-7 win against Vermont last weekend, scoring a career-best six goals and eight points. The Bel Air, Md., native has recorded three goals or more on six separate occasions in nine games this season.

POTENT OFFENSIVE ATTACK
With Shannon Williams leading the way, the Ducks are proving to be a dangerous team on the offensive end this season with the ability to score quickly and often. Oregon is 23rd in the nation and fourth in the MPSF in scoring offense with 13.56 goals per game, and 12th in the nation with 20.89 points per game. Williams leads the team with 29 goals and 43 points, while Mariah Gatti is second in goals scored with 25, already five more than her then-career-high total from 2016. Senior Bella Pyne is second on the club with 31 total points (22 G, 9 A), and Cambi Cukar leads the club and is tied for fifth in the nation with 22 assists to give her 27 points. In total, 11 Ducks have scored goals this season, with five in double-digits.

DUCKS ACTIVE ON DEFENSE
Oregon has been very active on the defensive end thus far this season in terms of attacking the ball-carrier, as the Ducks are tied for 21st in the nation and third in the conference with 11.11 caused turnovers per game and 100 total. The Ducks have forced double-digit turnovers in all but two games this season, including a season-high 17 in a win over San Diego State (Feb. 11). Junior Jill Zubillaga leads the Ducks with 15 caused turnovers, and senior Bella Pyne and sophomore Mandi Trostle are right behind with 13 forced turnovers apiece. Oregon is 41st in the country in scoring defense so far this year, allowing 10.56 goals per game.

CUKAR CHASING UO ALL-TIME ASSIST RECORD
With only two full seasons under her belt, junior Cambi Cukar has already moved into second all-time at UO in career assists and is closing in on the all-time record. With a program-record 46 assists in 2016, Cukar ran her career-total to 82 to pass Kristina Barrett (2009-12) for third. Cukar has passed Carly O'Connell for second with 22 assists so far this season, tied for fifth-most in the nation, putting her at 104 for her career and only 10 dimes short of Shannon Propst's program record of 114. Cukar has broken into the top two at an astounding rate, as she is one of only two Ducks in the top 10 to play in fewer than 70 games (42). Cukar also has 126 career points, only nine shy of cracking the top 10 list in Oregon history.

UP NEXT
After facing No. 15 Towson and George Mason, the Ducks will wrap their eight-game road swing at Virginia on March 29 before returning home to host conference-rival USC on April 7.

SCOUTING NO. 12/15 TOWSON AND GEORGE MASON
No. 12/15 Towson (6-3) enters Saturday's game against the Ducks riding a three-game winning streak. The Tigers defeated Monmouth, 17-6, on March 19 after a 14-11 upset of then-No. 10 Notre Dame on March 15. Towson has faced stiff competition all season, facing four teams ranked in the top 10 (1-3). Three Tigers have scored more than 20 goals this season with five surpassing double-digits, led by Natalie Sulmonte's 24 goals and 10 assists. Samanth Brookhart leads the club and is tied for second in the country with 24 assists. Goalies Kiley Keating and Angie Benson have split time this year, allowing an average of 8.78 goals per game.

On Monday, the Ducks will take on a 3-3 George Mason team that is coming off a 12-6 win over Coastal Carolina. The Patriots lost 17-11 to High Point the game prior, a team that Oregon fell to earlier this month, 17-13. George Mason is led by Chachi Kelehan (16 G, 4 A), and Melissa Lobaccaro is also in double-digits with 12 goals. The Patriots are allowing an average of 10.31 goals per game this season.

DUCKS SPLIT WITH VERMONT AND NO. 4 COLORADO
March 17 - Oregon 17, Vermont 7 (in Denver)
Sophomore Shannon Williams enjoyed a tremendous offensive night with career-highs in goals (6) and points (8) to lead Oregon to a 17-7 rout of Vermont in Denver. Leading 5-2 midway through the first, the Ducks erupted for seven unanswered goals to take a commanding 12-2 lead. Williams would score twice in the last 12 minutes to push her goal total to six while also finishing with two assists.

Bella Pyne tallied her third hat trick of the year with three goals while adding two assists, and Cambi Cukar, Mariah Gatti and JoJo Hesketh each finished with a pair of scores. The Ducks out-shot Vermont, 31-18, in a solid defensive effort while forcing 13 turnovers, and senior goalie Becca Katzen made four saves while allowing seven goals.

March 19 - #4 Colorado 16, Oregon 11
After a scoreless first 10 minutes, the fourth-ranked Buffaloes ripped off five unanswered goals to take control early, 5-0. The Ducks got on the board with a goal by Shannon Williams and then pulled within 6-3 with five minutes left in the half, but Colorado responded with two late goals to go into halftime leading, 8-3. Trailing 14-6, Junior Jill Zubillaga mounted a comeback for the Ducks by ripping off three goals in a seven-minute span to get Oregon within five, 14-9, and Mariah Gatti responded with her third goal of the game after a Colorado score to make it 15-10 with under five minutes left. Williams recorded a hat trick with a goal with 2:16 remaining to pull the Ducks within four, 15-11, but Colorado scored less than a minute later and iced the victory.

Zubillaga, a defender by trade, enjoyed a breakout game offensively with a career-high four goals after entering the day with one score in her career, and also added five draw controls and a caused turnover. Williams continued to score at a high rate with three goals while adding two assists to lead Oregon in points (5), and Gatti earned Oregon's third hat trick of the day with three goals. Cambi Cukar was her usual self, setting up her teammates throughout the day with four assists.

KATZEN NAMED MPSF DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK (FEB. 6)
Senior goalie Becca Katzen was rewarded for her strong performance in goal in the Ducks' season-opening 11-8 win over Michigan, earning MPSF Defensive Player of the Week honors for the first time in her career. Katzen was stellar at the start of the game against the Wolverines, making five saves in the first 10 minutes including a pair of free-position saves. Katzen finished with a career-high nine saves on 17 shots on goal(.529), and was solid against nine total free-position shots. The native of Cockeysville, Md., earned her first-career win while helping the Ducks to victory.

KATRINA DOWD TAKES OVER OREGON LACROSSE, BRINGS ON BLOCK AND TUMOLO AS ASSISTANTS
Katrina Dowd was introduced as the Ducks' second head coach in program history on June 15, 2016, coming to Eugene as one of the most established players and coaches in all of women's lacrosse. A prolific goal-scorer during her playing days at Northwestern and with the USA National Team, Dowd is expected to bring a fast and exciting new brand of lacrosse to Oregon. Dowd took over at the helm of the Ducks after spending four seasons as the offensive coordinator and draw specialist coach at North Carolina, helping the Tar Heels to national championships titles in both 2013 and 2016.

"My philosophy is to teach the game with passion and belief," Dowd said at her introductory press conference. "At the core that's about player development and team chemistry. We're going to attract the best student-athletes, provide them a one-of-a-kind student-athlete experience and compete at the highest level, with the ultimate goal of winning national championships."

Dowd filled her coaching staff with familiar faces and impressive resumes, bringing on Becca Block and Michelle Tumolo as assistant coaches. Dowd has played with both Block and Tumolo on the USA National Team, and coached them both as an assistant at Syracuse in 2013 when the two were seniors. Block will coordinate the Ducks' defense, while Tumolo will focus on the offensive side.

LACROSSE TO BECOME PAC-12 SPORT IN 2018
The Pac-12 Conference will add women's lacrosse for the 2018 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 the minimun number to qualify (6) for a conference championship and NCAA tournament automatic-qualifying bid.