Back to Cali, Back to Conference Play
This Week: The Ducks (9-5, 2-0 MPSF) resume Mountain Pacific conference play as they travel to take on rival California (5-5, 1-0 MPSF) and St. Mary’s (3-8, 0-1 MPSF). With a win in either game, the Ducks will match their season win total from a year ago and the school record for wins. The Ducks will take on the Golden Bears on Saturday at 11:00 a.m. and the Gaels on Sunday at Noon.
Long Time, No See: This weekend will mark the first time in two months that the Ducks have played a conference opponent. The Ducks opened the season with wins over then-No. 16 Stanford, 10-6, and UC Davis, 12-6.
Scouting California: The Golden Bears are coming off of losses to No. 12 Notre Dame and No. 1 Northwestern, but won their only conference match of the year so far, as they defeated UC Davis, 15-7 on March 2. Senior midfielder Lauren Cavallo leads the Bears with 23 goals and is tied for the team lead with 10 assists on the year. She has also controlled the most draws for the team (23).
Ducks vs. Golden Bears: Last year, the Ducks and Bears split the season series as the Ducks fell in the regular season finale against the Bears, but rebounded to defeat them in the third place game of the conference tournament, 9-8 in a win that gave the Ducks their first winning season in program history. Overall, the Ducks are 1-2 against the Bears.
Scouting Saint Mary’s: The Gaels just broke a four-game losing streak with a 18-10 win over Manhattan College. They are 0-1 in conference play but have two losses to conference opponents as they fell to UC Davis in a non-conference match early in the year but will close out the season with a counting conference match against the Aggies at the end of the season.
Ducks vs. Gaels: The Ducks have dominated Saint Mary’s in the three years since Oregon became a program, outscoring the Gaels 76-24 total over the four meetings (all Oregon victories). Five Ducks have double figures in points over their career against St. Mary’s, with Lindsay Killian’s 14 points (12 G, 2 A) leading the way. Alison Leiner had a team record six assists against St. Mary’s in 2006 and has totaled 12 points (5 G, 7 A) against the Gaels.
.500 and Beyond: With their win over Colgate, the Ducks program record moved to 23-23 (.500) for the first time since its inception in 2005. After splitting the games on their east coast trip, the Ducks program record has moved to 25-25.
Sweet Home Cookin’: The Ducks finished out their home season undefeated (6-0, 2-0 MPSF) this year at Pape’ Field, marking the first undefeated home season in Oregon history. The Ducks take to the road for the rest of the season, as they enter MPSF play and the MPSF tournament which will be held in Davis, Calif.
Best Start EVER: The Ducks’ 9-5 start to the season is the best in program history. Last year at this time they held a 7-7 record and in 2005 began the year with a 4-10 record.
For complete release, see the downloads section.
