Win Saturday Gives Ducks a 3-0 Start

Saturday, February 15

Eugene, OR

12:00 p.m.

University of Oregon

3-0

Columbia

0-1

Columbia

OREGON

Photo by: Rob Moseley/GoDucks.com

02/15/25 | Women's Lacrosse

Box Score Box Score: Oregon 15, Columbia 7 Photo Gallery

Oregon beat Columbia on Saturday at Papé Field, 15-7.

By: Rob Moseley

EUGENE, Ore. — Dominance on the draw led to dominance on the scoreboard Saturday at Papé Field.

Rachel Pallo tied her own Oregon lacrosse record by winning 12 draws for the Ducks against Columbia, and the UO women improved to 3-0 this season with a 15-7 victory fueled by a 21-4 advantage on draw controls.

Oregon followed a similar script from its first two victories of the season, jumping out to an early lead with an offensive attack led by Anna Simmons, pressing their advantage thanks to stout defense and pulling away to lead by double digits. The scoreboard went to a running clock multiple times in the second half as the Ducks built leads of 13-3, 14-4 and 15-5 against the Lions, who were playing for the first time this spring.

"Having those two games of experience coming into our third — feeling confident, knowing a game plan — was awesome," UO coach Jessica Drummond said.

Simmons again led the UO attack, scoring four times, and Emma Ing added a hat trick as well with three goals. Bri Carrasquillo, Gabby Santucci and Lyla Hurley each scored twice, while Paige Crowther had four saves in net before giving way to freshman Kate Shields for the fourth quarter.

The comfortable margin allowed Drummond to work several freshmen in for extended minutes, including defender Audrey Thompson, midfielder Hazel Baker, defender Ella Lewandowski and attacker Reilly Cormier, along with Shields in goal.

"The level is just a little bit different (from high school), so just the exposure for them is awesome," Drummond said. "Playing a team like Columbia where they go hard, non-stop, a gritty team, for them to get that experience against a team like that is awesome."

How It Happened: Oregon scored in the opening minute for the third time in three games, and for the second time that opening goal was scored by Carrasquillo. Ing made it 2-0 less than a minute later, becoming the second of seven different Ducks to score in the game.

"We're all super-experienced players and everyone is different in their own way, but it makes the offense so great," Ing said. "We have people that can dodge from the X, people that can cut, and we're all super-shifty, fast, and we also just work as a team."

After Columbia scored to get within 2-1, Pallo won the next five draw controls in a row, helping the Ducks take a 5-3 lead into the second quarter. Simmons and Ing each complete hat tricks prior to halftime, Hurley scored twice in the second and both Carrasquillo and Avery Young found the back of the net in the period as well.

Simmons' fourth goal made it 13-3 early in third, and Liv Kozitza answered a Columbia goal in the final minute of the period with one for the Ducks, putting them up 14-4 entering the fourth. Santucci scored in the final period for a 15-5 lead, before Oregon eased up on the gas a bit with the comfortable lead.

"It's so much fun," senior Madysyn Sweeney said of Oregon's 3-0 start. "It's just, like, 60 minutes of pure fun and joy. We're so united as a team that it's just like, when one person does something good, it just hypes up everyone else. And it's so fun to be out there."

Saturday's was the third game in nine days for the Ducks as they opened their season. Now they'll have some time on the practice field, before resuming competition next weekend.

"We're so eager to get back out there, and obviously we'll just be waiting and waiting for Saturday," Sweeney said. "But it'll be nice to have a few practices where we can just regroup, work on the things we need to work on, and then also tune-up the things we're really doing good."

Up Next: The Ducks host Central Michigan next Saturday (2 p.m., B1G+).