University of Oregon
7-7, 3-3MPSF
Stanford
9-4, 4-1MPSF
Ducks Can't Hold First-Half Lead at Stanford
04/14/17 | Women's Lacrosse
OREGON JUMPED OUT TO A 10-5 FIRST-HALF LEAD AT STANFORD, BUT THE CARDINAL FINISHED THE GAME ON A 12-3 RUN TO BEAT THE DUCKS, 17-13
STANFORD, Calif. - The Oregon women's lacrosse team jumped out to a five-goal lead in the first half against Stanford on Friday night, but couldn't slow down the Cardinal's second-half surge in a 17-13 loss at Stanford Stadium.
How it Happened: Stanford (9-4, 4-1 MPSF) started fast, jumping out to a 2-0 lead through the first six minutes. The Ducks (7-7, 3-3 MPSF) responded with four unanswered goals to take a 4-2 lead. Senior Bella Pyne and junior Jill Zubillaga each scored off assists from freshman Julia Bolte to to tie the game, 2-2, and Pyne scored again to give Oregon the lead before Julia Taylor turned another Bolte dish into a score.
Stanford would go on a 3-1 run over the next nine minutes before the Ducks went on a tear to close the half. Shannon Williams, the Ducks' leading goal and point-scorer, gave Oregon back the lead with a goal, and junior Cambi Cukar followed with a score just nine seconds later. Junior Mariah Gatti followed with her second goal of the game less than a minute later to make it 8-5, Oregon, and Zubillaga scored her second with 4:25 left in the half. Gatti would turn the fourth assist of the half from Bolte into a first-half hat trick to close a 5-0 Oregon run to end the half and send the Ducks into the break with a 10-5 lead.
It was all Stanford coming out of the break, as the Cardinal ripped off a 4-0 run within the first four minutes to pull within a goal. Gatti scored her fourth of the game off an assist by Cukar to give the Ducks a two-goal cushion, but the Cardinal answered with two of their own to tie the game, 11-11, with 21:40 left in the game. Zubillaga joined Gatti with a hat trick to give the Ducks back the lead, but Stanford controlled the remaining 20 minutes and finished the game on runs of 6-1, 8-2 and 12-3.
Who Stood Out: Gatti finished with a team-high four goals, while Pyne and Zubillaga joined her with hat tricks with three goals apiece. Bolte was stellar at setting up her teammates, recording a season-high six assists, the most by a Duck this year. Williams, Cukar and Taylor each scored once for Oregon, and Cukar added one assist to move her career total to 112, just two shy of matching the UO all-time record. Zubillaga led all players with seven draw controls.
What it Means: The Ducks fall to 3-3 in conference play, and will play a hugely important game for seeding in the MPSF Tournament on Sunday at UC Davis.
Notable: Williams was held without multiple goals for just the third time in 14 games this season … The Ducks fall to 3-5 this season when Cukar tallies one or no assists … Cukar moved her MPSF-leading assist total to 30 … Stanford's Kelsey Murray led all players with five goals.
Up Next: The Ducks will play UC Davis at noon on Sunday in Davis, Calif.
