LAX Begins Three-Game Home Slate on Tuesday
EUGENE – The Oregon women’s lacrosse team will have a tough three-game slate this week before taking the road for an extensive period of time. The Ducks open their three-game set at 5 p.m. on Tuesday, March 10, against George Washington followed by Robert Morris on Friday, March 13, at 5 p.m. and will then wrap up the five-game homestand at noon on Sunday, March 15, against Richmond.
ON THE SCREEN
All three of this week’s games will be live-streamed for free on the Pac-12 live stream page for Oregon. Tuesday’s against George Washington and Friday’s game against Robert Morris can be found by clicking here, while Sunday’s game against Richmond can be found by clicking here.
DUCKS AND COLONIALS CLASH
When Oregon and George Washington take the field at 5 p.m. on Tuesday, March 10, at Pape Field, it will mark the first time the two schools have squared off. The Colonials come into Eugene having lost their last two matches, the most recent coming on March 3 at home against Navy in a 14-3 loss. Prior to that, GW fell at Liberty 17-13.
George Washington finished in fifth last year in the Atlantic-10 Conference with an overall record of 7-9 and 3-4 mark in conference play. The Colonials return their top-three leading points scorers in Jami Bumgardner, Rachel Mia and Michaela Lynch. Bumgardner, who led the team with 65 points last season (27g, 38a), is currently second on the team with nine points (4g, 5a). Mia, who was GW’s leading goal scorer last season was also second in points with 37, and currently leads the team with 12 points, all of which are goals. Lynch, who was third on the team in points last season with 25, (18g, 7a) also returns for the GW offense.
On the defensive side of the ball, Mia leads the Colonials with six caused turnovers while Rachel Quinn leads the team with nine groundballs. Ellie Glasgow and Jenn Seitz are second on the team with eight groundballs apiece. Mackenzie Jones captains the GW defense with a .338 saves percentage, allowing 47 goals in 219:28 minutes of action in the cage.
Despite edging its opponents in the shots on goal percentage category .827 to .723, GW has given up 112 shots compared to just 81 shots taken.
ROUND TWO VS RMU
The Oregon Ducks will have some extra motivation on Friday, March 13, when they face Robert Morris as UO looks to avenge its 15-14 overtime loss to the Colonials last season. Kristin Yoviene led the game with four goals against Oregon last season, while Corey Karawacki and Brittany Byerly each recorded a hat trick.
RMU recently held off Detroit (3/9) in a 14-12 win at home before heading to the Pacific Northwest to face the Ducks behind C. Karwacki’s five goals.
The Colonials have been strongest in the first half of play, outscoring opponents 50-20, while RMU’s goal differential in the second half is just 44-25.
Yoviene leads all players with 27 points, 14 goals and 13 assists to go with a .483 shooting percentage, while C. Karwacki is second on the team with 23 points (15g, 8a). Jessica Karwacki averages 14.8 draw controls per game to lead the nation through five games.
WEB AFFAIR
Oregon will wrap up its five-game homestand on Sunday, March 15, when it plays host to Richmond at noon. The Ducks and Spiders have only squared off once with UO winning that affair 17-5 in Richmond. UR lost its last match to No. 15 James Madison, 10-5, after winning its previous games against Liberty and Old Dominion.
Emily Doyle leads the spiders with 19 points, 10 goals and nine assists. Bailey Zerr and Charlett Stevenson round out the double-digit point scorers for Richmond with 11 points and 10 points, respectively. Emily Boyce leads the defense with 14 ground balls, while Kim Egizi and Katie Cahill each have 11.
Zerr checks into Sunday’s match with 28 draw controls. Emily Castle is the only other player with double-digit draw controls, checking in with 13.
In the cage for Richmond, Boyce sports a 9.35 goals against average, giving up 59 goals in 378:38 minutes of action.
DUCKS IN THE NATION
Freshman Cambi Cukar is tied for first in the nation after dishing out six assists against Saint Mary’s, while Holly Johnson is tied for 10th with her five assists against Presbyterian. Carly O'Connell is eighth in the nation in draw controls with a 6.00 average
LAST TIME OUT
Oregon split its home opener the last time it took the field, falling to San Diego State, 8-7, in double overtime followed by a 21-3 beating of Saint Mary’s. The Ducks were leading the Aztecs 7-3 in the second half before SDSU charged back to force overtime and score the eventual game-winner in the first overtime period. UO had six different players score, but only Hayley Milner was able to net more than one goal (2).
The very next day, Oregon took out its frustration on Saint Mary’s and routed the Gaels 21-3. The Ducks had a blistering .724 shots on goal percentage (21-29) in the game on their way to a tying the single-game record for team assists (16) and points (37). UO also had 11 different players score, while Mariah Gatti and Maddie Terefenko each scored their first collegiate goal.
O’CONNELL NAMED OFFENSIVE POW
Midfielder Carly O'Connell was named the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation’s Offensive Player of the Week after leading the Ducks to a 2-0 opening weekend. O’Connell tallied six points (4g, 2a), five groundballs, 11 draw controls and three caused turnovers over the weekend. This is the first offensive player of the week honor for O’Connell and the third weekly conference honor in total. She was named rookie of the week in back-to-back weeks as a freshman in 2013.
DUCKS ON TV
Oregon will have four of its final six games televised this season, two of which will be at home. The Ducks’ first televised match will be against USC on April 3 followed by California on April 5. UO’s string of three-straight televised matches will then conclude on the road when Oregon battles with Stanford down at The Farm on April 9. The Ducks final regular season match that will be broadcast will be on the road against Denver on the Altitude Sports Network.
Should the Ducks advance to the MPSF Tournament, all the matches in the tournament will also be broadcast on the Altitude Sports Network.
A LOOK AT THE DUCKS
Oregon returns seven of its 12 players from last year’s starting lineup for 2015. Of the seven players returning, four are coming from the offense side, including All-MPSF selection Carly O'Connell. On the defensive end, the Ducks also return all-conference honoree Ali Scharkey.
O’Connell will lead the Oregon offense this season after tying Shannon Propst for the team lead in points with 71 (32g, 39a) in 2014. Other offensive threats returning for the Ducks are Olivia Pyne (19g, 8a), Courtney Valdez (23g, 4a), Casey Brogan (20g, 5a), Devon Frazer (19g, 6a) and Bella Pyne (18g).
Despite losing Propst, Nikki Puszcz and Sami Kiser who are littered all over the Oregon record book, Jen Beck has the UO reloaded with 10 freshmen. Beck added five midfielders, three attackers and a pair of defenders after losing 10 players, six of which were seniors.
On the defensive end, the Ducks’ biggest loss came in the crease with the graduation of arguably the program’s best goalie, Caroline Federighi. The UO defense will also be without the service of Erika McCool, who had 28 groundballs to go along with 15 caused turnovers to graduation.
DUCKS PICKED FOURTH IN MPSF
Oregon was picked to finish fourth in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) as voted on by the conference coaches. The Ducks garnered 53 points after posting an 11-8 overall record and a 6-3 mark conference play. The Ducks advanced to the semifinals of the MPSF Tournament before falling to the eventual championships, Denver, last season.
BECK SIGNS SEVEN TO 2016
Oregon women’s lacrosse head coach announced the signing of seven players to National Letters of Intent on during the fall signing period. The seven signees will be coming from Maryland (3), Oregon (1), California (1), New York (1) and Canada (1).
FEDERIGHI NAMED ACADEMIC ALL-AMERICAN
Caroline Federighi left her mark at Oregon earning Capital One Academic All-America third team honors as announced by the College Sports Information Directors Association (CoSIDA) on Thursday, June 5. Federighi became the first Oregon women’s lacrosse player to ever to earn Academic All-American honors. The Pleasanton, Calif., product was only one of two Division I women’s lacrosse players named to either the first, second or third team and one of eight Academic All-Americans from Pac-12 schools.
This is the third academic award Federighi has garnered this season alone, and the seventh accolade in her career at UO. The senior keeper first earned her third MPSF All-Academic team recognition and followed up with the program’s second-ever academic all-district honors in May.
