Ducks And Buffaloes Clash In Regular Season Finale

EUGENE, Ore. - The Oregon women's lacrosse team travels to Boulder this Friday for its regular season finale against the Colorado Buffaloes at 2 p.m. PT. The Ducks are looking to cap off the inaugural Pac-12 season with another upset victory over a ranked opponent, as well as their first program win against the Buffs.

GAME 16: OREGON (8-7, 4-5) vs. No. 15 COLORADO (11-4, 8-1)
Friday, April 20 | 2 p.m. PT
Boulder, Colo. | Kittredge Field
Live Stats: cubuffs.com
Live Video: Pac-12 Plus

LAST TIME OUT
Oregon had a bumpy start to its three-game road trip to close out the season, falling to both California and No. 12 Stanford this past weekend. In their first game against Cal, the Ducks and Golden Bears played to an 8-8 tie at the end of the first half. Cal pulled away in the opening minutes of the second half, going on a 5-0 run to take a 13-8 lead before UO scored its first goal of the half. UO got within one goal, 14-13, with just under 10 minutes to go following a 4-0 run, which included three straight goals from senior Jill Zubillaga. The Golden Bears clamped down defensively to keep Oregon off the scoreboard in the final minutes, with Cal's Jenny Wilkens making four saves.

At No. 12 Stanford, the Cardinal showed why they lead the Pac-12 in scoring offense, taking an 8-2 lead halfway through the opening period. After trading goals to open the game, Stanford went on a 7-1 run over the following eight minutes to take the six-goal lead. Stanford extended its lead scoring the first four goals of the second half to take a 14-4 lead over the Ducks. UO and the Cardinal traded goals throughout the remainder of the second half, before the Ducks closed out the game with back-to-back goals from Cambi Cukar and JoJo Hesketh, her fourth of the game, to earn the final score of 17-9.

FROM TAKING ON ATTACKERS TO GOALKEEPERS
Senior Jill Zubillaga has played on both ends of the field during her career at UO. After starting as a defender her freshman and sophomore seasons, she was moved into an attacking role following the hiring of head coach Katrina Dowd. The Kennett Square, Pa., native has shined as an attacker, scoring 68 goals in her two seasons up top for UO. She currently leads the team with 49 goals this season ranking her second in the Pac-12 in goals scored per game. She has recorded three or more goals in 10 games this season, including a six-game stretch from March 26 to April 13, during which she netted a career-high six goals against Arizona State. Zubillaga needs just three more goals to break the UO single-season record set by Shannon Williams last season.

WHERE THE DUCKS STAND
Heading into the final game of the season, the Ducks are fourth in the Pac-12 standings, one game behind USC. Oregon needs two upsets on the final weekend of competition to move into third place. If UO beats Colorado and Arizona State defeats USC, the Ducks and Trojans will have duplicate 5-5 records in the Pac-12. If that happens, then Oregon will move ahead of USC on tiebreakers.

OFFENSIVE POWERHOUSE
Despite dropping their last two games, the Ducks remain one of the top offensive teams in the Pac-12. As a team, the Ducks are third in the conference, behind Stanford and Colorado, averaging 12.73 goals per game. UO is the only team in the Pac-12 with three players in the top 10 for goals and points per game this season. The Ducks are also second in the league in assists (5.8) and points (18.5) per game, while leading the conference with a .447 shooting percentage.

SPREADING THE WEALTH
The Ducks have been extremely unselfish this season, spreading the ball around to become one of the top assisting teams in the Pac-12. So far this year, UO averages 5.8 assists per game to rank second in the conference. Attackers Cambi Cukar and Shannon Williams rank first and third, respectively, in the conference for assists per game. Both Ducks rank among the nation's top 25, with Cukar's 39 assists placing her fourth while Williams' 28 puts her in a tie for 23rd. Cukar needs only seven more assists to tie her own single-season record set in 2016. Williams is currently ninth, making her first appearance on the single-season list. As a team, Oregon needs only 13 more assists to break 100 total assists on the year for the third straight season.

DRAWING A MASTERPIECE
In a recent interview, head coach Katrina Dowd decisively stated what the key to upsetting USC was, "draw controls." And she could not have been more accurate as UO outdrew USC 22-9 in the game, tying the Oregon single-game draw control record. Oregon has outdrawn opponents 216-173 this year, ranking second in the Pac-12 with a 14.4 draw controls per game average. Sophomore Lexy Biller has been a major factor in UO's dominance in the circle, recording a program-record 96 draw controls so far this year. Biller ranks second in the conference and 12th in the NCAA with a 6.4 draw controls per game average. She is also eighth on the UO career draw controls list with at least two more games to play in her first season at UO.

POINTING TO A RECORD CAREER FOR WILLIAMS
Only in her junior season, Shannon Williams continues to be an offensive juggernaut for UO, continuing to improve on all facets of her offensive gameplay. After breaking the single-season points and goals scored record last year, Williams continues to contribute to the UO offense in scoring while improving her on her distribution. The Bel Air, Md., native leads the team with 63 points this season recording 35 goals and 28 assists. She currently averages 4.2 points per game, placing her second on the singleseason list. She is also seventh on the single-season total points list, cracking the top 10 for the second year running. Throughout her three-year career at UO, Williams has averaged 3.6 points per game, which would rank first on the career points per game list. Williams is already seventh on the career points list with 178.

BETWEEN THE PIPES
In her first season as a Duck, transfer Brittany Read has put up big numbers in the net for UO. She has recorded double-digit saves in eight games this year, including a season-high 15 at USC. Her 139 saves this year ranks fourth on the UO single-season saves list and fifth on the career saves list. Currently, she averages 9.3 saves per game to rank second in the Pac-12 and 29th in the NCAA. She has held teams to 10 goals or less in six games including a tremendous performace at East Carolina in which she recorded nine saves in a little over 45 minutes of action. Read held the Pirates to three goals, marking not only a season-low for the Ducks, but also just one goal more than the program record. A Gibbsboro, N.J., native, Read is currently on a two-game streak of recording 10 or more saves.

LET CAMBI ASSIST YOU
To few people's surprise, senior Cambi Cukar is once again the Ducks' leading distributor with 39 assists so far this season. Her 2.5 assists per game average currently leads the Pac-12 and ranks eighth in the NCAA. The Pleasanton, Calif., native, has dished out a season-high four assists five times this year. Cukar is already Oregon's all-time career assists leader with 163 so far in her career, good for 49 more than Shannon Propst who is second. With her 25th assist at Vanderbilt, she is now the only Duck to appear on the UO single-season record list four years running. She holds the single-season record with 46 assists in 2016, while placing third with 42 in 2017 and sixth with 36 in 2015. Currently she ranks tied for fourth on the list this season.

SCOOP AND SCORE
Goalkeeper Brittany Read has been a vacuum around the net, scooping up a team-high 49 ground balls so far this season. At Vanderbilt, she recorded a UO single-game record 10 ground balls, breaking the previous record of eight. Read currently ranks second in the Pac-12 and 12th in the NCAA with a 3.3 ground balls per game average. After recording eight ground balls in UO's last outing at Stanford, Read moved into second on the UO single-season list, needing only 10 more ground balls to tie Carries Bateman's record of 59 set in 2006.

SCOUTING THE DUCKS' OPPONENT
Colorado leads the Pac-12 with an 8-1 conference record. The Buffs' only loss in league play came in an 8-7 overtime loss at USC. The Buffaloes have two of the top three scorers in the Pac-12 in Darby Kiernan and Miranda Stinson, who average 3.4 and 3.1 goals per game, respectively. The Ducks have yet to defeat Colorado, with CU holding a 6-0 record against UO over the past four years.

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 minimum 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.

LOOKING AHEAD
The Ducks will head back to Boulder for the inaugural Pac-12 Championship Tournament on Thursday, April 26.