San Diego State’s Deanna Balsama stole the show in Oregon’s first game at Papé Field in two weeks, scoring a career high 8 goals in an 18-15 win.
Both teams entered Sunday’s game looking to snap a two game losing streak. The Aztecs, whose lone win of the season came against the California Golden Bears, are yet to play a home game this season.
Hanna Hilcoff came out firing for the Ducks with a first quarter hat trick.
Oregon pressured the San Diego State defense with a constant attack, creating quality scoring opportunities at will.
In the second quarter, the Aztecs flipped the script by moving the ball across the field and finding senior attacker Balsama.
After a 4-4 first quarter tie, Balsama began the second with three unanswered goals to give San Diego State a 3 score lead. Through five games, Balsama has found the net a team high 26 times.
San Diego State dominated draw control, allowing them to relentlessly attack the Oregon defense. The Ducks trail their opponents by 10 draw controls in the early season.
Immediately following Balsama’s run, Aztec junior Camdyn O’Donnell exploded for a hat trick of her own, pushing their lead to 6.
The Ducks were able to end the second quarter with a 3-0 run of their own and went to halftime with a manageable deficit of 10-7.
In the third, Oregon received a boost from Alyssa Wright, who scored her second, third and fourth goals of the season.
With just 6 seconds left to play in the third quarter, Lillian Stump fired in her fourth goal of the game, cutting the San Diego State lead to 13-12.
In the fourth quarter, Hannah Hilcoff went back and forth with Balsama.
Hilcoff scored an efficient 6 goals on eight shots, including the Ducks only 3 goals of the final quarter.
However, Balsama and the Aztecs enjoyed the last laugh, ending their losing streak with an 18-15 win.
Oregon gave San Diego State 14 free position shots on the game, five of which were converted for points.
As the Oregon losing streak extends to three games, the Ducks will look to clean up their defensive struggles against the Arizona State Sun Devils on Feb. 25 in Tempe, Arizona.
