Notes: Ducks Open MPSF Play Saturday vs San Diego State

Monday, February 13

Eugene, Ore.

1:00 PM

University of Oregon

Canisius

Photo by: Eric Evans/GoDucks.com

Notes: Ducks Open MPSF Play Saturday vs San Diego State

02/08/17 | Women's Lacrosse

Notes - SDSU & Canisius Tickets

OREGON WILL OPEN CONFERENCE PLAY AGAINST AZTECS ON SATURDAY AT PAPE FIELD (NOON) BEFORE HOSTING CANISIUS ON MONDAY (1 PM)

By: Nate Krueger

Game #2
Oregon (1-0) vs. San Diego State (0-1)
Saturday, Feb. 11 | 12 p.m.
Papé Field | Eugene, Ore.
Live Stream | Live Stats

Game #3
Oregon (1-0) vs. Canisius (0-1)
Monday, Feb. 13 | 1 p.m.
Papé Field | Eugene, Ore.
Live Stream | Live Stats

WEEKLY NOTES
The Ducks will look to build off last week's season-opening 11-8 win over Michigan this weekend as it begins MPSF play on Saturday against San Diego State before hosting Canisius at Papé Field on Monday.

Head coach Katrina Dowd and staff got their Oregon careers off to a strong start last weekend with the win over the Wolverines, and the Ducks will try to carry over the offensive balance and defensive consistency that fueled their first win of 2017.

Balanced Attack Leads Ducks Past Michigan, 11-8
The Ducks came out in attack mode from the opening draw, ripping off three straight goals to go up 3-0 in the first 10 minutes after JoJo Hesketh opened the season with a goal in the first three minutes. After Michigan responded with a score, three more unanswered goals by Oregon pushed the Ducks' lead to 6-1 with six goals by five players.

Leading 7-4 at half, the Ducks surrendered two goals to trim their lead to one before sophomore Julia Taylor took over the game. Taylor exploded for two goals in a span of just 47 seconds, giving her a hat trick and extending Oregon's lead to 9-6. The Ducks added goals by Shannon Williams and Cambi Cukar to pull away for a season-opening win.

Taylor finished with her first-career hat trick, three caused turnovers, three groundballs and a draw control to pace the Ducks. Williams and Mariah Gatti each found the net twice, and Bella Pyne finished with three points on a goal and two assists. Seven total Ducks combined to score 11 goals for Oregon, and goalie Becca Katzen racked up nine saves in a solid effort that saw her fend off multiple free position shots.

Katzen Named MPSF Defensive Player of the Week
Senior goalie Becca Katzen was rewarded for her strong performance in goal in the Ducks' season-opening win, 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.

Taylor Shines in Sophomore Debut
Sophomore midfielder Julia Taylor was a standout up and down the field in Saturday's win over Michigan. The Tustin, Calif. native tallied her first-career hat trick with three goals on three shots, and also racked up three caused turnovers, three groundballs and one draw control. Taylor surpassed her goal total from all of 2016 (2) in just one game into the 2017 campaign.

Watching the Record Book
With only two seasons under her belt, junior Cambi Cukar has already broken into the top-three 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 sits only four assists behind Carly O'Connell (2013-16) for second all-time, and is 32 dimes short of Shannon Propst's program record of 114. Cukar has broken into the top-three 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 (35).

Scouting the Ducks' Opponents
The Ducks welcome San Diego State and Canisius to Pape Field on Saturday and Monday, respectively. The Ducks will look to even the all-time series with SDSU this week, as they trail the Aztecs, 2-3, after dropping a 10-9 decision at SDSU last season. The Aztecs have won each of the last two meetings between the two teams after Oregon started the series 2-1. SDSU was the only other MPSF team to open its season last weekend, falling to Denver, 15-10. Kristen Hickey was named the MPSF Offensive Player of the Week after racking up four goals to lead SDSU in the season-opener.

When the Canisius Golden Griffins come to Eugene for Monday's game, it will be the first time the Ducks and the Golden Griffins have faced off in women's lacrosse. Canisius faced a tough opening game last week against No. 9 Northwestern, falling to the Wildcats in a tight 9-7 decision. Canisius was picked to win the MAAC this year, and junior midfielder Erica Evans was projected as the conference Player of the Year. Evans scored two goals and had an assist in the Golden Griffins' opener and is a two-time MAAC Midfielder of the Year.

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 minimum 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
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.