Quick Start Not Enough as Ducks Suffer First Loss

Thursday, February 27

Berkeley, CA

3:00 p.m.

University of Oregon

4-1

California

2-2

OREGON

California

Photo by: Molly McPherson

02/27/25 | Women's Lacrosse

Box Score Box Score: Oregon 7, California 10

BERKELEY, Calif. – The Oregon lacrosse team got out to its typical quick start but just could not keep up the pace for the full 60 minutes, falling 10-7 to California on Thursday.

The Ducks jumped out to a 6-1 lead, putting 11 shots on goal compared to just 3 from Cal in the opening 15 minutes, but were outscored 9-1 over the final three quarters to drop to 4-1 on the season. Liv Kozitza led the way offensively for the Ducks, netting the first hat trick of her collegiate career to go with three ground balls and a caused turnover.

Oregon held the advantage in draw controls (12-3) and shots (32-21) but were plagued by turnovers, giving the ball away a season-high 20 times. The Ducks have had success early in the year on free position attempts, scoring 16 of their 64 goals from the 8-meter line, but finished just 1-of-8 on such shots on Thursday.

How It Happened: The Ducks' hot start was sparked by Anna Simmons, who scored her 21st goal of the season to put Oregon on the board first. The Golden Bears scored one of their own shortly after, but Kozitza responded with two goals in the next minute to push the UO lead to 3-1.

Lyla Hurley netted her fourth of the season before assisting on Jenae Sperling's seventh goal of the year just 30 seconds later. Capitalizing on a Cal yellow card, Madysyn Sweeney entered the scoring column for the first time in 2025 off a feed from Emma Ing to give the Ducks a five-goal advantage heading into the second quarter.

The Ducks struggled to keep the offensive flow going after the quarter break, putting up only one shot before the halftime whistle. Cal scored four times and the Ducks entered the locker room up, 6-5. The Golden Bears scored three more in the third before Kozitza stopped the run with her third of the day and pulled the Ducks within back within one, 8-7.

Oregon put six more shots on goal but could not slip any past the Golden Bears' goalkeeper. Cal scored just before the third quarter ended and added another late in the fourth to fend off a UO comeback.

Notable: Kozitza has scored in all five of her collegiate games, tallying multiple goals twice … Paige Crowther played all 60 minutes in goal, making five saves to go with a career-high six ground balls … Lexi Jenkins led Oregon and set a new career high with five draw controls, while Rachel Pallo nabbed four ... Sperling has recorded six points in her last two games and nine in her last four, while Simmons has scored in six straight games dating back to last season.

Up Next: The Ducks play at UC Davis on Saturday at noon.