Ducks to Host Cal Sunday at Papé Field

Sunday, February 19

Eugene, Ore.

3:00 PM

University of Oregon

California

Photo by: Eric Evans/GoDucks.com

02/15/17 | Women's Lacrosse

LAX Notes - California Tickets

OREGON LACROSSE WILL TRY TO IMPROVE TO 2-0 TO START CONFERENCE PLAY ON SUNDAY WHEN THE DUCKS FACE CAL ON SUNDAY AT 3PM AT PAPE FIELD

By: Nate Krueger

Game #4
Oregon (2-1, 1-0 MPSF) vs. California (0-1, 0-0 MPSF)
Sunday, February 19 | 3:00 PM
Papé Field | Eugene, Ore.
TV: Pac-12 Networks
Live Stats

WEEKLY NOTES

The Oregon women's lacrosse team will look to rebound from a tough loss to Canisius on Monday when the Ducks welcome California to Pape Field on Sunday at 3 p.m. in their second conference game of the year. The Ducks got off to a good start in MPSF action last Saturday with an 11-9 win over San Diego State.

The game between the Ducks and the Golden Bears will be broadcast live on Pac-12 Networks, with Troy Clardy (pxp) and Leah Secondo (analyst) on the call. Live stats will be available on the lacrosse schedule on GoDucks.com.

BALANCED OFFENSIVE ATTACK LEADING DUCKS THROUGH THREE GAMES
Three games into the 2017 season, the Ducks have enjoyed a balanced effort on the offensive end. Eight different players have accounted for goals so far for Oregon, with Mariah Gatti leading the way with eight and Shannon Williams adding seven. Senior Bella Pyne has added five, as has sophomore Julia Taylor after a hat trick in the season-opener. Williams leads the team in total points with 11, while Gatti (9) and Pyne (8) follow. Cambi Cukar is the Ducks' leader in assists with five, and she sits tied for ninth in the country in that category.

DUCKS ACTIVE ON DEFENSE
Oregon has been very active on the defensive end thus far this season in terms of attacking the ball-carrier, as the Ducks are tied for 10th in the nation and third in the conference with 14 caused turnovers per game. The Ducks are fourth in the country in total caused turnovers with 42, while their opponents have caused only 26. Sophomore Julia Taylor leads the Ducks with eight toal caused turnovers, and senior Bella Pyne and junior Jill Zubillaga are tied for second with six each.

WATCHING THE RECORD BOOK
With only two full seasons under her belt, junior Cambi Cukar has already moved into second all-time at UO in career assists. With a program-record 46 assists in 2016, Cukar ran her career-total to 82 to pass Kristina Barrett (2009-12) for third. Cukar passed Carly O'Connell for second on Monday with two assists against Canisius, and she is only 27 dimes short of Shannon Propst's program record of 114. Cukar has broken into the top-two at an astounding rate, as she is one of only two Ducks in the top-10 assist list to play in fewer than 70 games (38).

Rank Player Years      Games Assists
1          Shannon Propst 2011-14 72          114
2          Cambi Cukar         2015-pres. 38          87
3          Carly O'Connell      2013-16     70          86

SCOUTING THE GOLDEN BEARS
The California Golden Bears come to Pape Field this weekend coming off a 15-5 home loss to Denver in their season-opener. The Golden Bears got a strong showing from sophomore goalie Jenny Wilkens, who made 13 saves, but were unable to generate much offense in the loss. Caroline Schlegel scored a pair of goals to lead Cal, and 2016 goal-leader Elizabeth Pellechi scored once. The Golden Bears finished ninth in the MPSF in 2016 at 4-12 overall and 2-7 in conference play, and will look to snap a three-game losing streak to the Ducks on Sunday. Oregon beat Cal, 15-5 last year, and the Ducks have won six of the last seven meetings and own a 10-7 advantage in the all-time series.

WILLIAMS LEADS DUCKS PAST SDSU, 11-9, TO OPEN MPSF PLAY (FEB. 11)
The Ducks got off to a great start in MPSF play on Saturday, knocking off rivial San Diego State, 11-9, in another impressive effort in front of their home crowd. The Ducks opened up a lead in the first three minutes for the second straight game, as sophomore Shannon Williams found junior Mariah Gatti with a beautiful pass to open the scoring.

Leading 4-2 after a defensive-minded first half, Williams got the Ducks going again to start the second half by rolling around the cage and zipping the ball past the goalie for what would be her second goal and third point of the day. Bella Pyne and Cambi Cukar added goals shortly after to push Oregon's lead to 7-3.

With the lead cut to 8-5, Williams earned her first hat trick of the season when she intercepted a pass from the Aztec goalie and found an open net in front of her. Williams recorded her career-high fourth goal of the game six minutes later to push Oregon's lead to 10-6, and Julia Taylor added her fourth goal of the season a few minutes later to help ice the game for the Ducks.

Williams finished with a game-high four goals and five points, while Gatti finished with two goals and three points and Cukar celebrated her 21st birthday with two assists and a score. Pyne also found the net twice, and Taylor and Natalie Modly each scored once. Junior JoJo Hesketh was stellar for the Ducks with seven draw controls to help Oregon win that battle, 14-8, and Becca Katzen made seven saves to earn her second win in as many games.

FREE-POSITION SHOTS HURT DUCKS IN 15-11 LOSS TO CANISIUS (FEB. 13)
Trailing Canisius by one, 8-7, after a back-and-forth first half, the Ducks evened the game up less than six minutes into the second period on a goal by senior Bella Pyne off a dish from junior Cambi Cukar.

Canisius was able to establish control over the next 15 minutes or so, however, with the help of some foul calls that turned into eight meter free-position attempts. The Golden Griffins converted five free-position shots into goals in a span of 11 minutes, and added an unassisted goal by Tessa Chad to take control, 14-8, with 9:22 to play. Canisius finished the game with seven free-position goals.

The Ducks began to mount a comeback with just more than five minutes remaining, as Rachel Steinberg turned a feed from Cukar into her first goal of the year, and junior JoJo Hesketh scored her second goal of the game less than 30 seconds later on a free-position shot. Junior Mariah Gatti capped a tremendous day on the offensive end with a goal at the 4:19 mark on a free position to cut the deficit to 14-11, but the Ducks' comeback stalled as Canisius scored with 2:37 remaining to ice the game.

Oregon started the game well, as Gatti and Hesketh put the Ducks up 2-0 in the first seven minutes off assists from Shannon Williams. Gatti made it 3-1 with 18:16 left in the first half on a beautiful no-look, behind-the-head shot to energize the crowd, and added another a minute later on a free-position shot. Pyne's first goal of the day (14:03) made it 5-2, Oregon, but the Golden Griffins responded with a 6-2 run to take a one-goal lead at the half. Gatti finished with a game-high four goals, Pyne and Hesketh each added two and Cukar had two assists.

KATZEN NAMED MPSF DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK (FEB. 6)
Senior goalie Becca Katzen was rewarded for her strong performance in goal in the Ducks' season-opening 11-8 win over Michigan, earning MPSF Defensive Player of the Week honors for the first time in her career. Katzen was stellar at the start of the game against the Wolverines, making five saves in the first 10 minutes including a pair of free-position saves. Katzen finished with a career-high nine saves on 17 shots on goal(.529), and was solid against nine total free-position shots. The native of Cockeysville, Md., earned her first-career win while helping the Ducks to victory.

KATRINA DOWD TAKES OVER OREGON LACROSSE, BRINGS ON BLOCK AND TUMOLO AS ASSISTANTS
Katrina Dowd was introduced as the Ducks' second head coach in program history on June 15, 2016, coming to Eugene as one of the most established players and coaches in all of women's lacrosse. A prolific goal-scorer during her playing days at Northwestern and with the USA National Team, Dowd is expected to bring a fast and exciting new brand of lacrosse to Oregon. Dowd took over at the helm of the Ducks after spending four seasons as the offensive coordinator and draw specialist coach at North Carolina, helping the Tar Heels to national championships titles in both 2013 and 2016.

"My philosophy is to teach the game with passion and belief," Dowd said at her introductory press conference. "At the core that's about player development and team chemistry. We're going to attract the best student-athletes, provide them a one-of-a-kind student-athlete experience and compete at the highest level, with the ultimate goal of winning national championships."

Dowd filled her coaching staff with familiar faces and impressive resumes, bringing on Becca Block and Michelle Tumolo as assistant coaches. Dowd has played with both Block and Tumolo on the USA National Team, and coached them both as an assistant at Syracuse in 2013 when the two were seniors. Block will coordinate the Ducks' defense, while Tumolo will focus on the offensive side.

LACROSSE TO BECOME PAC-12 SPORT IN 2018
The Pac-12 Conference will add women's lacrosse for the 2018 season as the conference's 12th sponsored women's sport and 23rd overall. Arizona State announced it would add women's lacrosse in 2018, giving the Pac-12 the minimun number to qualify (6) for a conference championship and NCAA tournament automatic-qualifying bid.

LOOKING BACK AT 2016

CAMBI CUKAR - THE ART OF THE ASSIST
Cambi Cukar had an extremely impressive sophomore season in 2016, leading the Ducks in points with 54 while breaking the Oregon single-season record with 46 assists. Cukar finished the year ranked second in the nation in assists per game at 2.71, the only underclassmen in the top 10, and was fifth in the NCAA in total assists while leading the MPSF in both categories.

SPREADING THE LOVE
Cambi Cukar wasn't the only Duck that liked to share the lacrosse ball in 2016. As a team, the Ducks ranked 13th in the country and second in the MPSF in assists per game, passing off 5.88 per contest. Carly O'Connell, now graduated, was second to Cukar's 46 assists last year with 15, and Shannon Williams racked up 13 to join Cukar and O'Connell in double-digits. The Ducks will look for another distributor to step up in 2017 with the departure of O'Connell.

SCORE FAST, SCORE OFTEN
Averaging just less than 12 goals per game in 2016 (11.47), the Ducks ranked 31st in the country and fourth in the MPSF in scoring offense. Shannon Williams was the Ducks' leader in goals with 30 on the year, and the Ducks boasted a balanced scoring attack with six players tallying 20 goals or more, and five with 25 or more. Carly O'Connell (25), Rachel Steinberg (25), Holly Johnson (26), Bella Pyne (25) and Mariah Gatti (20) were the other five Ducks to eclipse the 20-goal mark last season.

DEFENSE REAPS REWARDS IN 2016
The Oregon defense was proactive in causing turnovers in 2016. The Ducks averages 9.76 caused turnovers per game, good for 17th in the country. Junior Bella Pyne led the Ducks in the category by forcing 18 total turnovers and averaging 1.06 caused turnovers per contest in 2016. Pyne ranked 14th in the MPSF in caused turnovers per game.