Ducks Take Flight, Opening 2018 Season At Home Friday

Friday, February 16

Eugene, OR

4:00 PM

University of Oregon

UC Davis

Ducks Take Flight, Opening 2018 Season At Home Friday

02/15/18 | Women's Lacrosse

LAX Notes - UC Davis & Syracuse

EUGENE, Ore. - The Oregon women's lacrosse team opens its 2018 season this weekend hosting UC Davis Friday afternoon at 4 p.m., followed by a noteworthy game against national powerhouse Syracuse played at West Linn High School.

The 2018 season marks the inaugural Pac-12 women's lacrosse season with six teams, Stanford, USC, Colorado, California, Arizona State and the Ducks, participating in the new conference sport.

GAME 1: Oregon (0-0) vs. UC Davis (0-1)
Friday, Feb. 16 | 4 p.m. | Eugene, Ore. | Pape' Field
Live Stats: GoDucks.com | Live Video: GoDucks.com
Series Record: UO leads, 13-3 | Last Meeting: UO won, 10-9 (4/16/17)

GAME 2: OREGON (0-0) vs. #7 Syracuse (1-0)
Sunday, Feb. 18 | 1 p.m. | West Linn, Ore. | West Linn HS
Live Stats: GoDucks.com | Live Video: N/A
Series Record: N/A | Last Meeting: First Meeting

WEEKLY NOTES
SEASON SCHEDULE
The upcoming 2018 season will be filled with unique challenges for the Ducks. Apart from playing every Pac-12 team twice, Oregon will take on five teams who made it to the NCAA Tournament last season, Syracuse, Canisius, Towson, USC and Colorado. Four of those teams are currently ranked in the Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association's preseason top 20 with Syracuse and USC in the top 10. This year's schedules also offers two unique games starting with Sunday's game against Syracuse. The Ducks and the Orange will play in West Linn, Ore. in a special game played at West Linn High School. Following that game, Oregon will return to Eugene to face Canisius on the campus rec fields.

READ NAMED INSIDE LACROSSE PRESEASON ALL-AMERICAN
Oregon transfer Brittany Read was named an Inside Lacrosse 2018 preseason second team all-America selection. The all-America nod is only the second such honor in program history for Oregon, and the highest any Duck has been selected by Inside Lacrosse. Jen May is the only other Duck to receive Inside Lacrosse all-America honors after being selected to the all-America third team in 2008. The preseason award is based off Read's 2017 accomplishments which includes 194 total saves and a .512 save percentage ranking her fifth and sixth in the NCAA, respectively.

WATCHING THE RECORD BOOK
Heading into the 2018 season, two Ducks are on the cusp of breaking onto the career record books at UO, with one Duck looking to extend her lead at the top spot. Senior Cambi Cukar is currently Oregon's all-toime career assists leader accumulating 124 assists over her three years at UO. The Pleasanton, Calif., native has already recorded 10 more assists than Shannon Propst, who sits in the No. 2 spot, with one more season left to play.

Junior Shannon Williams has been UO's leading goal scorer the past two seasons, scoring 51 goals in 2017 to become Oregon's new single-season scoring leader. In her two seasons, she has accounted for 81 goals and needs just nine more to tie Kristina Barrett for 10th all-time with 90 career goals. The Bel Air, Md., native also needs just 20 points to tie Jana Bradley for 10th on the Oregon career points list.

Jill Zubillaga is the third Duck to sit just outside a career top 10 list at the start of the 2018 season. The senior needs to win just five draw controls to tie Cara Mead for 10th with 64 career draw controls.

BREAKING DOWN THE ROSTER
The Ducks return 75 percent of their goal-scoring offense this season. Both Mariah Gatti and Shannon Williams netted over 40 goals last season, with Williams breaking the UO single-season record with 51. UO's only major loss on the attacking end is Bella Pyne who graduated last season. Pyne was second on the team with 43 goals.

With the loss of Pyne and senior goalkeeper Becca Katzen, the Ducks will rely heavily on juniors Mandi Trostle, Julia Taylor and Madeline Reece on the defensive end of the field. All three scooped up at least 20 ground balls and caused at least 10 turnovers last season, with Trostle being UO's only returner to log at least 20 ground balls and 20 caused turnovers.

Including Louisville transfers Brittany Read and Lexy Biller, The Ducks added 10 newcomers to this year's squad. Biller played one season for the Cardinals making five appearances, scoring one and recording three draw controls. UO added depth across the board with their incoming freshmen gaining three midfielders, two attackers, two goalkeepers and one midfielder.

TRANSFER Brittany Read SHORES UP DUCK DEFENSE
Oregon's defense got a big boost during the offseason adding 2017 ACC Defender of the Year Brittany Read. Originally from Gibbsboro, N.J., the senior goalkeeper held a 22-9 overall record as a Cardinal helping Louisville to three straight NCAA Tournament appearances. Last year Read led the ACC in saves and save percentage while remaining Louisville's career leader in both categories. Read will help fill the gulf left by graduating senior Becca Katzen who started all 17 games in the net for Oregon in 2017.

SCOUTING THE DUCKS' OPPONENTS
UO's first opponent of the 2018 season, UC Davis, is coming off an 11-9 loss to California in their season opener this past Friday. Two Aggies were responsible for all nine goals for UC Davis, midfielder Taylor Cuenin and attacker Amanda Outcalt. Cuenin, UC Davis' leader in nearly every category in 2017, netted five goals against the Golden Bears while Outcalt recorded four. The Ducks are 13-3 all-time against UC Davis having won the past seven games in a row, including last year's 10-9 regular season victory.

Oregon jumps right into the deep end for its second game of the season taking on assistant coaches Michelle Tumolo's and Becca Block's alma mater, No. 7 Syracuse, in West Linn. The Orange were 15-7 last season, finishing second in the ACC, and are coming off a 23-11 win over Connecticut in their season opener. Syracuse returned four of their top five scorers from last season, including second team IWLCA All-American Riley Donahue who netted 42 goals a year ago. Sunday's game will mark the first-ever meeting between Syracuse and Oregon.

LOOKING BACK AT 2017
In head coach Katrina Dowd's first season as head coach of the Ducks, Oregon recorded a 9-8 overall record, earning a quarterfinal berth in the MPSF conference tournament. Oregon finished the year 5-3 in conference play, their best finish since 2014.

UO had three players named to all-conference teams with Shannon Williams and Bella Pyne earning first team All-MPSF honors while Cambi Cukar took home second team all-conference accolades.

UO enjoyed an offensive renaissance in 2017 scoring 214 total goals, their most since 2014, with three players ranking in the top five for goals scored in a single-season. Then-sophomore Shannon Williams broke the UO single-season goals (51) and points (72) records while Bella Pyne and Mariah Gatti combined for 85 goals to rank third and fifth, respectively.

WORLD CUP PEDIGREE
Head coach Katrina Dowd won't be the only Lacrosse World Cup champion on the sidelines for the Ducks this year. Assistant coaches Michelle Tumolo and Becca Block both earned world cup gold this past summer, the first of their careers. The duo helped team USA go undefeated in tournament play, defeating Canada in the championship match.

LACROSSE BECOMES PAC-12 SPONSORED SPORT
With the establishment of the Arizona State women's lacrosse program, the Pac-12 was able to field the minumum number of required teams to qualify for a conference championship and NCAA tournament automatic-qualifying bid. This upcoming season, each team will play one another twice, home and away, with the first-ever Pac-12 lacrosse championships taking place in Boulder, Colo., Apr. 26-29.

UP NEXT
Following this weekend's slate, the Ducks will have a week off before welcoming Canisius to Eugene Monday, Feb. 26, at 1 p.m. PT.