Friday, April 7
Eugene, Ore.
1:00 PM
University of Oregon
7-6, 3-2
7
vs
17
USC
10-3, 4-0
1
2
F
USC
9
8
17
Oregon
3
4
7
Photo by: Eric Evans/GoDucks.com
Ducks Fall to No. 9 USC at Home
04/07/17 | Women's Lacrosse
NO. 9 USC GOT OFF TO A FAST START AND CAME AWAY WITH A 17-7 WIN OVER THE DUCKS AT PAPE FIELD
EUGENE, Ore. – The Oregon women's lacrosse team was unable to keep pace with a high-octane USC team on Friday afternoon at Pape Field, as the ninth-ranked Trojans got off to a fast start and left Eugene with a 17-7 win.
How it Happened: After a scoreless five minutes to open the game, USC (10-3, 4-0 MPSF) struck for a pair of goals in a two-minute span to jump out to a 2-0 lead. Junior Mariah Gatti answered at the 15:52 mark in the half with a goal off an assist from Cambi Cukar, but the Trojans took the momentum back and ripped off a 5-0 run to take control, 7-1, with under seven minutes to play in the first.
Sophomore Shannon Williams ended the Trojans run with a goal at the 3:43 mark and senior Bella Pyne scored off an assist from freshman Julia Bolte with just more than two minutes left in the half to make it 7-3, USC. The Trojans scored less than a minute later to push the lead back to five, and a dangerous shooting penalty on the Ducks (7-6, 3-2 MPSF) late in the half resulted in a man-up goal for USC and Trojans took a 9-3 lead into the break.
After USC's Michaela Michael, the conference's leading goal-scorer entering the game, found the net for USC to open the half, Williams scored back-to-back goals for the Ducks to bring Oregon within five, 10-5. The Trojans would thwart any hopes of an Oregon comeback from there, as Michael led USC to a 6-0 run a commanding 16-5 lead with under eight minutes to play. The Ducks would receive goals from Pyne and Gatti down the stretch as the Trojans came away with the win.
Who Stood Out: Williams, who entered the game leading the MPSF in points with 55, finished with a team-best three goals and three points. Pyne and Gatti each added two goals, and Bolte finished with a pair of assists while Cukar and Jill Zubillaga each had one. Michael finished with a game-high six goals and eight points (two assists) to lead the Trojans.
Notable: Cukar finished with one assist to give her 111 for her career, and she is now three shy of tying the all-time program record … USC won the draw-control battle, 18-8, with Michael grabbing a game-high 11 … Senior Annie Longtain led the Ducks with two caused turnovers … Senior Becca Katzen played the whole game, making seven saves.
Quotable: Head Coach Katrina Dowd
On the loss…
"That's a really good USC team. We knew we had to play a great game to be able to come out with the result we wanted. I just think we made it a little too easy with our own errors. We just had too many turnovers to be able to get a run going, we would put a little run together but we could never extend it to really make a push for the game. But credit to them coming out to Eugene and getting a hard fought win."
On what they need to work on moving forward…
"We have to work on our clears, for sure. Just simple things like being there for each other and playing with poise. We need to compete the whole game and not get too high or too low, just keep competing and fighting and making simple plays."
Shannon Williams, Sophomore, Attacker
On playing a highly-ranked team like USC …
"They're a solid team with good players. I think we prepared well like we do for each of these big games so we're going in knowing what we're going up against. The last few games we've come out strong and kind of held them down for a while but we just don't have it there at the end."
Up Next: The Ducks will hit the road next week for a pair of conference games at Stanford and UC Davis before returning to Eugene for their regular-season finale against Saint Mary's on April 23 at Pape Field.
How it Happened: After a scoreless five minutes to open the game, USC (10-3, 4-0 MPSF) struck for a pair of goals in a two-minute span to jump out to a 2-0 lead. Junior Mariah Gatti answered at the 15:52 mark in the half with a goal off an assist from Cambi Cukar, but the Trojans took the momentum back and ripped off a 5-0 run to take control, 7-1, with under seven minutes to play in the first.
Sophomore Shannon Williams ended the Trojans run with a goal at the 3:43 mark and senior Bella Pyne scored off an assist from freshman Julia Bolte with just more than two minutes left in the half to make it 7-3, USC. The Trojans scored less than a minute later to push the lead back to five, and a dangerous shooting penalty on the Ducks (7-6, 3-2 MPSF) late in the half resulted in a man-up goal for USC and Trojans took a 9-3 lead into the break.
After USC's Michaela Michael, the conference's leading goal-scorer entering the game, found the net for USC to open the half, Williams scored back-to-back goals for the Ducks to bring Oregon within five, 10-5. The Trojans would thwart any hopes of an Oregon comeback from there, as Michael led USC to a 6-0 run a commanding 16-5 lead with under eight minutes to play. The Ducks would receive goals from Pyne and Gatti down the stretch as the Trojans came away with the win.
Who Stood Out: Williams, who entered the game leading the MPSF in points with 55, finished with a team-best three goals and three points. Pyne and Gatti each added two goals, and Bolte finished with a pair of assists while Cukar and Jill Zubillaga each had one. Michael finished with a game-high six goals and eight points (two assists) to lead the Trojans.
Notable: Cukar finished with one assist to give her 111 for her career, and she is now three shy of tying the all-time program record … USC won the draw-control battle, 18-8, with Michael grabbing a game-high 11 … Senior Annie Longtain led the Ducks with two caused turnovers … Senior Becca Katzen played the whole game, making seven saves.
Quotable: Head Coach Katrina Dowd
On the loss…
"That's a really good USC team. We knew we had to play a great game to be able to come out with the result we wanted. I just think we made it a little too easy with our own errors. We just had too many turnovers to be able to get a run going, we would put a little run together but we could never extend it to really make a push for the game. But credit to them coming out to Eugene and getting a hard fought win."
On what they need to work on moving forward…
"We have to work on our clears, for sure. Just simple things like being there for each other and playing with poise. We need to compete the whole game and not get too high or too low, just keep competing and fighting and making simple plays."
Shannon Williams, Sophomore, Attacker
On playing a highly-ranked team like USC …
"They're a solid team with good players. I think we prepared well like we do for each of these big games so we're going in knowing what we're going up against. The last few games we've come out strong and kind of held them down for a while but we just don't have it there at the end."
Up Next: The Ducks will hit the road next week for a pair of conference games at Stanford and UC Davis before returning to Eugene for their regular-season finale against Saint Mary's on April 23 at Pape Field.
Team Stats
USC
ORE
Shots
34
21
Turnovers
18
17
Caused Turnovers
8
9
Draw Controls
18
8
Free-Position Shots
3
3
Ground Balls
16
19
Game Leaders
G
3
A
0
FO
-
Pen
-
GB
2
CT
1
G
2
A
0
FO
-
Pen
-
GB
1
CT
1
G
2
A
0
FO
-
Pen
-
GB
0
CT
0
G
0
A
2
FO
-
Pen
-
GB
0
CT
0
Players Mentioned
ATK
/ Women's Lacrosse
ATK
/ Women's LacrosseATK
/ Women's Lacrosse
GK
/ Women's Lacrosse
DEF
/ Women's LacrosseMF
/ Women's LacrosseATK
/ Women's Lacrosse
DEF
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