Ducks Head East to Winthrop and High Point

Friday, March 3

Rock Hill, S.C.

4:00 PM

University of Oregon

Winthrop

03/01/17 | Women's Lacrosse

LAX Notes - Winthrop & High Point Season Statistics

THE DUCKS WILL PLAY THE ENTIRE MONTH OF MARCH ON THE ROAD, STARTING THIS WEEKEND AT WINTHROP (FRI. 4PM) AND HIGH POINT (SUN., 9AM)

By: Nate Krueger

GAME #6
Oregon (4-1) at Winthrop (2-2)
Friday, March 3 • 4 p.m. PT | Rock Hill, S.C.
Eagle Field
Series History: First meeting

GAME #7
Oregon (4-1) at High Point (0-3)
Sunday, March 5 • 9 a.m. PT | High Point, N.C.
Vert Stadium
Series History: Tied, 2-2

THIS WEEK
The Oregon women's lacrosse team will head east this weekend for a pair of road games at Winthrop and High Point as the Ducks prepare to play the entire month of March away from their home field. The Ducks enter the weekend after picking up a big conference win over Fresno State last Sunday to remain perfect in MPSF play at 3-0 and improve to 4-1 overall.

HOW TO FOLLOW
Neither game this weekend will be featured with a video stream, but links 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.

TRIO OF GOAL-SCORERS LEADING DUCKS THROUGH FIVE GAMES
The Ducks have enjoyed a balanced effort on the offensive end through five games this season, averaging 12.60 goals per game to slot in at 40th in the country and fifth in the MPSF. Ten different players have accounted for goals so far for Oregon, led by the trio of Shannon Williams, Mariah Gatti and Bella Pyne. Williams leads the MPSF with 15 goals, including three four-goal performances, and is tied for the league-lead with 20 total points, while Gatti is right behind with 14 goals. Pyne has added 11 goals and five assists to slot in at second on the team with 16 points. Cambi Cukar has been tremendous once again this season at setting up her teammates, as she leads the MPSF and is tied for ninth in the country with 11 assists. JoJo Hesketh has also added seven goals and two assists for the Ducks, and Julia Taylor has added six scores.

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 15th in the nation and second in the conference with 12.20 caused turnovers per game and 61 total. The Ducks were all over Fresno State in that department last Sunday, forcing 16 Bulldog turnovers. Senior Bella Pyne and junior Jill Zubillaga lead the Ducks with 10 caused turnovers apiece, and sophomore Julia Taylor is right behind with nine forced turnovers. Oregon is tied for 34th in the country in scoring defense so far this year, allowing exactly 10.00 goals per game.

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 has passed Carly O'Connell for second with 11 assists so far this season, putting her only 21 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 (40).

**Oregon Career Assists List**
Rank	Player (Years)	Games	Assists
1	Shannon Propst (2011-14)	72	114
2	Cambi Cukar (2015-present)	40	93
3	Carly O'Connell (2013-16)	70	86

SCOUTING WINTHROP AND HIGH POINT
The Ducks will face off against the Winthrop Eagles on Friday night for the first time in program history. The Eagles enter Friday's match-up coming off a 19-7 win over Virginia Commonwealth last Sunday, in which junior Nicole Beatson exploded for six goals and two assists to lead the way, and four more players accounted for multiple goals. On the season, Beatson leads Winthrop and is 12th in the nation with 4.25 goals per game and 17 overall, and four other Eagles have at least five goals. Katherin Judge will be a force on the draw controls, where she has 21 this season, and goalie Chloe Wormsley is allowing 12.25 goals per game with a .347 save percentage through four games.

On Sunday, the Ducks will go up against the High Point Panthers for the fifth time in UO lacrosse history, trying to earn an advantage in the series (2-2). The Panthers are 0-3 so far this season with losses to No. 2 North Caroline, Elon and No. 15 James Madison, and are led by Erica Perrotta (4 goals), Darla Poulin (3 goals) and Samantha Brown (3 goals). High Point got the best of the Ducks in Eugene last season with a 12-7 victory after Oregon had won, 9-8, in High Point in 2015.

SECOND HALF SURGE AT FRESNO STATE KEEPS DUCKS PERFECT IN MPSF PLAY
Trailing 5-3 with time winding down the first half, the Ducks pulled within one at the break on a goal by sophomore Shannon Williams, giving her a hat trick in the first half alone to pace Oregon through the first period.

Senior Bella Pyne tied the game with quickly in the second period with her first goal of the game at the 28:03 mark, and sophomore Julia Taylor pulled the Ducks ahead, 6-5, with 24:33 remaining off an assist by freshman Julia Bolte.

After a Fresno State goal tied the game, Bolte took a dish from junior JoJo Hesketh and turned it into her third goal of the year to give Oregon back the lead. Hesketh followed less than two minutes later with a goal of her own on an assist from Williams. With the Ducks up two, 8-6, with less than 18 minutes to play, the Bulldogs ripped off three-straight goals to take a one-point lead with 12:53 remaining.

With Fresno State riding the momentum, junior Mariah Gatti quickly turned the tables back into Oregon's favor with her second goal of the game at the 11:55 mark to tie the game again, taking a feed from Pyne for the score. The Ducks then buckled down on defense and scored three more goals to seal the win, with Williams, Hesketh and Pyne each finding the back of the net again.

Williams tied her career-high of four goals for the third time this season while leading all players with five points, and Hesketh finished with a career-high four points on two goals and two assists. Gatti and Pyne each scored twice to give Oregon four players with multiple goals, and Taylor and Bolte each scored once.

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.