Ducks Wrap Eight-Game Road Swing at Virginia Wednesday

EUGENE, Ore. – The Oregon women's lacrosse team will close out an eight-game road swing at 4 p.m. PT on Wednesday with a match-up against No. 15/17 Virginia at Klockner Stadium in Charlottesville, Va. The Ducks are 7-4 overall after splitting the last two games at then-No. 12/15 Towson and George Mason, and are currently 4-3 on the eight-game road trip. The Ducks will return home following their game against the Cavaliers to open a four-game MPSF stretch to wrap up the regular season.

HOW TO FOLLOW
The Ducks' game against Virginia will be broadcast live on the ACC Network, and will be available to stream on the WatchESPN app. A link to live stats will also be available on the lacrosse schedule on goducks.com. and live updates will be provided on Twitter via @OregonWLAX.

WILLIAMS LIGHTING UP THE SCOREBOARD
Sophomore attacker Shannon Williams has been a constant offensive threat for the Ducks this season, and is putting together a terrific sophomore campaign after leading Oregon in goals as a freshman. Williams leads the MPSF and is tied for 10th in the nation with 35 goals, already five more than her team-leading total from all of last season, and she also leads the MPSF and is tied for eighth in the nation with 51 points, also exceeding her total from 2016 (43). Williams enjoyed a career night in the Ducks' 17-7 win against Vermont on March 17, scoring a career-best six goals and eight points. The Bel Air, Md., native has recorded three goals or more on seven separate occasions in 11 games this season.

POTENT OFFENSIVE ATTACK
With Shannon Williams leading the way, the Ducks are proving to be a dangerous team on the offensive end this season with the ability to score quickly and often. Oregon is tied for 24th in the nation and fourth in the MPSF in scoring offense with 13.27 goals per game, and tied for 14th in the nation with 20.64 points per game. Williams leads the team with 35 goals and 51 points, while senior Bella Pyne is second in both categories with 29 goals and 40 points. Mariah Gatti is third in goals scored with 28, already eight more than her then-career-high total from 2016. Cambi Cukar leads the club and the conference and is third in the nation with 28 assists to give her 34 points. In total, 11 Ducks have scored goals this season, with six in double-digits.

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 33rd in the nation and third in the conference with 10.27 caused turnovers per game and 113 total. The Ducks have forced double-digit turnovers in six different games this season, including a season-high 17 in a win over San Diego State (Feb. 11). Senior Bella Pyne leads the Ducks with 16 caused turnouvers, while junior Jill Zubillaga and sophomore Mandi Trostle are right behind with 15 forced turnovers apiece. Oregon is 41st in the country in scoring defense so far this year, allowing 10.64 goals per game.

CUKAR CLOSING IN ON UO ALL-TIME ASSIST RECORD
Only in her third season, junior Cambi Cukar has already moved into second all-time at UO in career assists and is closing in on the all-time record. 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 28 assists so far this season, third-most in the nation, putting her at 110 for her career and only four dimes short of matching 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 to play in fewer than 70 games (46). Cukar also has 133 career points, only two shy of cracking the top 10 list in Oregon history.

UP NEXT
After facing Virginia on Wednesday, the Ducks will return home to open a four-game conference stretch to close out the regular season, starting with a home match-up against ranked USC on April 7 at Pape Field.

SCOUTING NO. 15/17 VIRGINIA
No. 15/17 Virginia (6-4) enters Wednesday's game riding a four-game winning streak after an 18-5 rout of then-No. 17 Duke at home on March 25. The Cavaliers have held their opponents to single-digit goals in each of the last four games, and are allowing 11.10 goals per game this season. Offensively, Virginia is 27th in the nation with 13.10 goals per game, led by Kelly Resse, how has 29 goals this season and 2.90 per game. The Cavaliers have struck a good offensive balance so far this year, with seven different players recording double-digit goals. Goalie Rachel Vander Kolk is giving up an average of 10.91 goals per game. This will be the first-ever meeting between Oregon and Virginia.

ZUBILLAGA PROVING TO BE AN OFFENSIVE WEAPON
After playing almost exclusively as a defender her first two seasons and even the first five games this season, junior Jill Zubillaga has become a consistent scoring threat for the Ducks. She scored her first-career goal on March 17 against Vermont, and then erupted two days later at No. 4 Colorado with a four-goal performance. Zubillaga has followed that up with two goals against No. 15 Towson and three against George Mason, giving her nine in the last three games and 10 in the last four games while also tallying two assists. Adding the offensive numbers, Zubillaga has become on of the most complete players for the Ducks as she leads the team in caused turnovers (16) and is second in draw controls (31).

DUCKS SPLIT WITH NO. 12/15 TOWSON AND GEORGE MASON
March 25 - #12/15 Towson 10, Oregon 7
The Ducks played tough with the ranked Tigers throughout the first half, and led 4-3 with 24:21 remaining in the game. Towson took back momentum from there, mounting a 7-0 run to move ahead for good. The Ducks mounted a late comeback with three goals in the final minutes, but the Tigers were able to hold on and ice the game. Shannon Williams, the MPSF's leading scorer, finished with a pair of goals, as did Jill Zubillaga and Bella Pyne. Cambi Cukar finished with a goal and an assist, the 105th of her career.

March 27 - Oregon 17, George Mason 12
The Ducks used an early 5-0 run to erase a 2-0 deficit, and then used a 6-1 stretch in the second half to ice the game and record their seventh victory of the year. Four different Ducks recorded a hat trick or better in the win. Bella Pyne finished with five goals and an assist, while Shannon Williams matched her six-point effort with four goals, giving her an MSPF-best 35 this season, and two helpers. Mariah Gatti and Jill Zubillaga rounded out the flurry of hat tricks for Oregon with three goals apiece, and each grabbed four draw controls as well. Freshman Julia Bolte finished with two goals and two assists in another solid outing for the freshman, and Cambi Cukar was tremendous as usual at setting up her teammates with a game-high five assists to give her 110 for her career and bring her within four of tying the UO all-time record.

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.