University of Oregon
Fresno State
Ducks Hit The Road To Face Fresno State Sunday
02/23/17 | Women's Lacrosse
OREGON WILL LOOK TO BUILD ON ITS 2-0 START IN MPSF PLAY AND REMAIN UNBEATEN AGAINST FRESNO STATE ON SUNDAY AT NOON IN FRESNO, CALIF.
GAME #5
Oregon (3-1, 2-0) at Fresno State (3-0, 0-0)
Sunday, Feb. 26 | 12 p.m. PT
Soccer & Lacrosse Stadium | Fresno, Calif.
WEEKLY NOTES
This Week:
The Oregon women's lacrosse team will try to improve upon its 2-0 start in MPSF play on Sunday as the Ducks travel to Fresno State for their first road game of the season.
"Our conference, that's our priority," head coach Katrina Dowd said. "You want to make sure you take care of your conference and make sure you're getting in good position to hopefully get to that tournament. So we're making sure we're extra focused and doing all the things we need to do in these conference games."
The Ducks enter Sunday's game after erupting for 18 goals against California last week to move to 2-0 in conference play and wrap up their four-game homestand at 3-1. Oregon will now try and carry that momentum on the road as it opens up a stretch of eight road games in a row, including the entire month of March.
How to Follow:
Sunday's game between the Ducks and the Bulldogs will not have a video stream, but a link to live stats will be available on the lacrosse schedule on GoDucks.com. Live updates will be provided on Twitter throughout the game via @OregonWLAX.
Balanced Offensive Attack Leading Ducks Through Four Games:
The Ducks have enjoyed a balanced effort on the offensive end, averaging 12.75 goals per game to slot in at 41st in the country and fourth in the MPSF. Ten different players have accounted for goals so far for Oregon, with Mariah Gatti leading the way with 12 and Shannon Williams right behind with 11. Senior Bella Pyne has added nine, and Julia Taylor and JoJo Hesketh each have five. Williams leads the team in total points with 15, while Gatti, Pyne and Cambi Cukar each have accounted for 13. Cukar has been tremendous once again this season at setting up her teammates, as she leads the MPSF with 10 assists through four games and is tied for seventh in the nation.
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 29th in the nation and fifth in the conference with 11.25 caused turnovers per game and 45 total. Sophomore Julia Taylor leads the Ducks with eight toal caused turnovers, and senior Bella Pyne and junior Jill Zubillaga are tied for second with seven 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 last week with two assists against Canisius, and her five assists against Cal on Sunday puts her only 22 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 (39).
| Rank | Player | Games | Assists |
| 1 | Shannon Propst (2011-14) | 72 | 114 |
| 2 | Cambi Cukar (2015-present) | 39 | 92 |
| 3 | Carly O'Connell (2013-16) | 70 | 86 |
Scouting the Bulldogs:
Fresno State has gotten its 2017 season off to a 3-0 start after going 5-10 and 2-7 in MPSF play last season. The Bulldogs picked up a 15-12 win over LIU Brooklyn in their season-opener, and then went on the road to beat Stetson (18-9) and Mercer (12-10) for their first 3-0 start in program history. Fresno State is currently tied for 15th in the nation with 15.00 goals per game, and is also tied for 15th with 15.00 draw controls per game. Freshman Tiffany Wallace has been a big offensive boost for the Bulldogs so far this season, as she leads the team with 12 goals and 17 points. Marina Mayo and Sarah Bloise have also added eight goals each to contribute to the offensive effort, while 10 total Bulldogs have found the back of the net. Historically, the Ducks have dominated against Fresno State, winning all nine of the previous meetings including a 15-10 win at home last season. Sunday's game will be Fresno State's first conference game of the year.
Stretch of 11 Unanswered Goals Fuels Ducks to 18-9 Win Over Cal (Feb. 19):
Trailing 3-2 after a back-and-forth start in the first 14 minutes, the Ducks erupted for nine unanswered goals to close out the first half and added two more to start the second half to take a commanding 13-3 lead over the visiting Golden Bears. Sophomore Shannon Williams started the offensive explosion with an unassisted goal at the 15:30 mark to tie the game, 3-3, and senior Bella Pyne gave Oregon a lead five minutes later with an unassisted goal of her own. Williams scored again 40 seconds later and added another with 7:32 left in the half, both unassisted, to extend Oregon's lead to 6-3. Junior Cambi Cukar quickly added on with an unassisted goal at the 6:53 mark, and Williams recorded her fourth goal of the half with 3:43 remaining to push the lead to 8-3.
With less than two minutes remaining before the break, the Ducks ripped off three goals in a minute-and-a-half to end the first period with a comfortable 11-3 lead. Junior Mariah Gatti and Pyne each scored unassisted goals, and Pyne set up Gatti with 30 seconds left to close the half.
Oregon carried its offensive momentum into the second half, as Cukar assisted junior JoJo Hesketh to open the half and then freshman Julia Bolte at the 25:09 mark for her first-career goal. Cal would end the Ducks' 11-0 run with a goal with 23:54 remaining, but Gatti responded for the Ducks with two more goals, one off a feed from Cukar and one on a free-position shot, and Pyne tallied another unassisted goal to give Oregon its biggest lead of the day, 16-4. Cal was able to score four straight goals late, but it was too-little, too-late.
The Ducks got four-goal performances from Gatti, Pyne and Williams in an impressive offensive display, with Pyne and Williams each matching their career-highs. Cukar was stellar at setting up her teammates, as she finished with five assists and a goal to lead the team with six points. Bolte, a left-handed attacker, was solid in her first taste of extended action with a pair of goals, and Hesketh found the back of the net twice, as well, while grabbing five draw controls.
Free-Position Goals 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 Tumulo 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.
