McCarthy Shines as Ducks Defeat Furman

Sunday, March 10

Eugene, OR

11:00 AM

University of Oregon

6-1

Furman

1-5

Furman

ORE

03/10/24 | Women's Lacrosse

Box Score Photo Gallery

EUGENE, Ore. — Morgan McCarthy scored a career-high six goals to power Oregon lacrosse to a convincing 17-8 win over Furman on Sunday afternoon to conclude the nonconference portion of its schedule.

The Paladins (1-5) made things difficult as they trailed the Ducks (6-1) by just three goals, 10-7, late in the third quarter. McCarthy provided the spark that Oregon needed as she led the Duck attack to score the game's next six goals and seize full control, keeping UO's perfect home record intact.

"I thought we did a great job out of conference," head coach Jessica Drummond said. "Facing some different competition, playing at home and defending Papé has been really special."

McCarthy scored four of her six goals in the final 21 minutes of the game and also matched her career high for draw controls with nine. The senior midfielder needs one more goal to reach 100 in her career, a feat accomplished by just 10 players in program history.

"I knew at the warm ups," Drummond said. "I was like 'You ready to go?', and she [McCarthy] was like, 'I'm so locked in.' I felt that. Starting off by getting all those draw controls, you stay on that field and get it done, and she did that today."

Junior attacker Riley Taylor was a catalyst for Oregon early on as she scored a first-half hat trick en route to a career high four goals on the day. Rachel Pallo turned in an all-around performance with two goals, an assist, four draw controls and four ground balls, while Haley Cummins chipped in two goals and an assist as well.

How It Happened: McCarthy wasted no time getting her team on the board as she collected the opening draw control and scored a mere nine seconds into the contest. A Furman response was countered by two Oregon goals in 28 seconds courtesy of Katie Collins and Taylor, but the Paladins scored once again to keep the score tight. With 14 seconds remaining in the period, Lauren Rismani connected with Madysyn Sweeney to give the Ducks a 4-2 lead entering the second.

McCarthy earned a free position attempt and converted on Oregon's first possession of the second quarter, but Furman answered with a goal of their own a few minutes later. Taylor scored twice for Oregon across the next five minutes, while Cummins found Pallo for a goal with 2:46 left to cap a 3-0 scoring run for the Ducks. Refusing to back down, the Paladins scored twice in the final 1:30 of the period, keeping Oregon near as the teams broke for halftime.

Cummins and Pallo scored a pair of quick goals for the Ducks out of the break, but the Paladins responded once again with back-to-back goals of their own to bring the lead back to three. After a seven-minute scoreless stretch for Oregon, McCarthy willed her way to the goal to score the first of four-straight Duck goals to close out the third quarter, a run that was capped by another McCarthy score with just seven seconds remaining.

McCarthy and Taylor each scored in the opening two minutes of the fourth to add some insurance to Oregon's lead, and McCarthy tacked on a final goal late in the period to set a career high and move one away from reaching the century mark. The Duck defense held the Paladin attack at bay by surrendering just one goal and allowed UO to close out its sixth win in seven games to begin the season.

Notables: Oregon has held six of its seven opponents under 10 goals in 2024 after doing so just six times across the last three seasons combined…Oregon has six wins through seven games for the first time since 2015.

Up Next: The Ducks open Pac-12 play against California at Papé Field on Saturday at 12 p.m. PT.