University of Oregon
7-5, 3-3
Arizona State
6-9, 1-7
Offense Comes Alive In Massive 21-8 Win To Open Final Home Stand
04/06/18 | Women's Lacrosse
EUGENE, Ore. — Oregon lacrosse coach Katrina Dowd wants to see a better showing the second time through the Pac-12 schedule by her Ducks, who went 2-3 in the first round over the course of March.
After three nonconference road matches over spring break, Pac-12 play resumed for the Ducks on Friday. And it was quite a first step taken by the UO women toward achieving their coach's goal.
Oregon scored 14 straight goals early in the first half, on the way to a 21-8 victory Friday over the first-year Arizona State program. The Ducks surpassed 20 goals in a match for the first time since winning 21-3 over St. Mary's in 2015.
Kicking off the final homestand of the season, Dowd started all available seniors, including attacker Jill Zubillaga, who matched her career high with six goals.
"We came out excited and hungry," Zubillaga said. "The seniors, we're only guaranteed four more games. We just wanted to have fun, and we did that."
Zubillaga and the rest of the UO seniors will be honored during a ceremony corresponding to the 2018 home finale, against No. 12 Southern California on Sunday at noon. That will be the next chance for the Ducks to answer their coach's call.
"You get a taste of what it's like to win like that, that level of success makes you focus even more," Dowd said. "We've gotten a taste of what that's like, and I hope we can build on it."
Zubillaga scored five times during Oregon's 14-goal run early in Friday's match. After ASU jumped out to an early 1-0 lead 2:24 into the match, Cambi Cukar tied it for the Ducks just 23 seconds later. Less than 13 minutes later, Zubillaga's fifth goal of the first half made it 14-1.
The Ducks (7-5, 3-3 Pac-12) led 17-3 at halftime, on their way to their third straight victory. They improved to 7-0 this season in matches against unranked foes, and on Sunday will look for their first win in six tries against a ranked foe.
Oregon and USC played into overtime on March 18 in Los Angeles, with the Women of Troy scoring the decider for a 9-8 victory. Dowd hopes to see the Ducks play Sunday with the same energy and enthusiasm she saw Friday, with the belief they can compete against ranked opponents.
"I do think they're starting to turn that corner," Dowd said. "It's not just the coaches, it's our leaders now who are starting to believe that, and you hear that chatter in the locker room."
It took more than energy and enthusiasm to dominate the way the Ducks did Friday, of course. Dowd said she challenged her team to win more draw controls and improve its shooting percentage; Oregon ended up winning 21 of 30 draws, and scored on 21 of 33 shots.
Zubillaga won seven draws, one more than her goal total, and Lexy Biller won four to set the UO single-season record with 81. JoJo Hesketh added a career-high-tying four goals, Shannon Williams also finished with a hat trick, and Cukar and Lillian Stump assisted on three apiece. Lindsey White and Haileigh Farrell each scored their first career goal.
"Everyone was getting involved," Dowd said. "It was fun to watch, and I'm really proud of the effort."
