Second Half Comeback Keeps Ducks Perfect at Home

Thursday, March 6

Eugene, OR

12:00 p.m.

University of Oregon

5-2

San Diego State

4-3

SDSU

OREGON

Photo by: GoDucks.com

03/06/25 | Women's Lacrosse

Box Score Box Score: Oregon 17, SDSU 16 Photo Gallery

EUGENE, Ore. – The Oregon lacrosse team has leaned on strong opening halves to seal wins at Papé Field this season, but that was not the case against San Diego State on Thursday. An offensive explosion in the second half and some late-game heroics led to a 17-16 win and gave the Ducks their third 5-0 start on home turf in program history.

The Ducks (5-2) fell behind early after a quick 6-0 run by San Diego State (4-3) in the first eight minutes and trailed by five at the half. The second half belonged to the Ducks, however, as UO used a 7-0 run of their own as well as timely stops on the defensive end to secure the come-from-behind win in thrilling fashion.

"That win gives us confidence that we can do this, we can bounce back," head coach Jessica Drummond said. "I've been talking about 'believe, believe, believe,' and that at halftime we are not out of this game. Six goals, we've seen that we can come back and do it. Being able to have that experience against [UC] Davis, to know what that feels like and making sure we don't want to feel that way again set us up for success today."

Freshman Kate Shields subbed in at goalkeeper with the Ducks down by six and lived up to her surname with eight saves, including a number of crucial stops on free position attempts in the final frame to pick up her first collegiate win.

"It was kind of a wake-up moment," Shields said. "One moment I was there cheering for my teammates and the team on the sideline, and then coach Drummond looked over at me and said, 'go get warmed up.' I kind of just took that as I have to warm up quickly, go in and help the team turn it around."

Bri Carrasquillo and Gabby Santucci led the Oregon offense for the second game in a row, accounting for 10 of the Ducks' goals on the afternoon. Just as they did against UC Davis, both set new career highs as Carrasquillo scored six and Santucci tallied four. Seven different Ducks found the back of the net in total.

"We came into the game with a ton of energy and as soon as the game hit, there was a little bit of a lull," Carrasquillo said." Then we all turned around like, we're too good to be playing like this, we deserve better. I really think it was just an energy switch."

The Ducks fired a season-high 40 shots on Thursday, 32 of which were on goal. Oregon was once again dominant on the draw, holding a 26-11 advantage thanks to 10 by Rachel Pallo – two shy of matching her own program record – and six by both Anna Simmons and Kristiana Strtak.

The two teams combined for 14 cards and 56 fouls in the most physical contest the Ducks have had this year.

How It Happened: For the first time this season, the Ducks were not the first to put points on the scoreboard. SDSU scored the opening goal just 13 seconds into the game to start its 6-0 run. Carrasquillo and Santucci tallied their first scores of the day within a minute of one another to stop the run and breathe life into the Oregon squad. Santucci found her second off a feed from Jenae Sperling to answer another Aztec goal and make it 7-3 after the opening 15 minutes.

Simmons, Kylee Manser and Emma Ing all scored in the second quarter for the Ducks, but San Diego State netted four shots to take an 11-6 lead into the break.

Coach Drummond's "believe, believe, believe" message in the locker room took hold, and the Ducks came out of halftime playing with a new fire. Sperling got the scoring started with her eighth goal of the season, but San Diego State responded with one of their own to keep the lead at five. Liv Kozitza swung the momentum back in Oregon's favor, firing home her ninth of the season off a find from Sperling.

The freshman's goal launched a 7-0 Oregon run. Carrasquillo scored to make it 12-9, and after the Ducks got a pair of stops – a caused turnover by Pallo and a stop by Shields on a free position attempt – the graduate student capped her third Duck hat trick. Santucci scored her third of the day with four seconds left on the clock to pull the Ducks within one heading into the fourth quarter.

Santucci made it a 12-12 game just 43 seconds into the final period, and the Ducks took their first lead of the day after Ing found Carrasquillo less than a minute later. Manser pushed the UO lead to two after Simmons won the draw and found her open in front of goal, but San Diego State stopped the run with two goals of their own to even it up at 14. Carrasquillo scored again to push the Ducks in front, but again SDSU responded once to make it a tie game.

Ing scored a crucial woman-up goal after the Aztecs were handed three cards in quick succession, and Carrasquillo netted her sixth of the day 30 seconds later to give the Ducks a 17-15 edge. San Diego State scored out of its own timeout to cut the Duck lead to one, but they would get no closer.

Shields made her eighth save of the day on a free position shot with 29 seconds left to play, and after an SDSU turnover on another free position opportunity, the freshman was able to hold the ball in the crease until the clock hit zeroes and she was swarmed in celebration by her teammates.

"We talked about coming back, defending Papé again after those two losses, coming back to our home and showing up like before," Drummond said. "It was awesome."

Notable: This year's team becomes the third Oregon squad to start 5-0 at home, joining the 2024 and 2012 teams … Rachel Pallo now has 143 career draw controls, passing Nikki Puszcz and Hanna Hilcoff for fifth in program history … Liv Kozitza made her first-career start and has now scored in six of her seven games as a Duck … Jenae Sperling led the Ducks with two assists, the first multi-assist game of her career … Anna Simmons has scored in eight straight games dating back to last season.

Up Next: The Ducks open conference play against Ohio State at Papé Field on Wednesday, March 12, at 5 p.m. (Big Ten Network).