For the first 15 minutes of Sunday’s matchup, Oregon women’s lacrosse dominated the field both on the offensive and defensive side, shutting out the strong University of Southern California offense. However, the strength of the Pac-12’s No. 1 team eventually prevailed and Oregon could no longer keep up.
The Oregon Ducks (5-8, 1-6 Pac-12) lost to the USC Trojans (13-3, 8-1 Pac-12) 5-10 in an aggressive game on both sides, wrapping up the home season for Oregon on Sunday’s Senior Day game at Papé Field.
Oregon stepped onto the field earning the first draw control and kept possession of the ball through most of the first quarter. On a pass from midfielder Katie Collins, attacker Haley Cummins found the back of the net and put the Ducks on the board first.
The early lead, made possible by Cummins, coupled with strong defensive holds, gave Oregon control on the field, keeping USC scoreless for the entirety of the first half. The Ducks also forced turnovers and had less fouls which kept them in good position. In its last showing against Arizona State, Oregon struggled from early on in the game to keep fouls to a minimum allowing them to face an early deficit. This was not the case early on against USC.
During the second quarter, the Oregon defense started to fall to the USC offense. The Trojans led the Ducks in scoring, draw controls and shots on goal. Despite USC picking up momentum, Morgan McCarthy kept Oregon in the game with a goal off a free position opportunity bringing her season goal tally to 30. She also kept her game scoring streak alive with 24 consecutive games.
The Trojans capitalized in the third quarter where Maggie Brown and Maddie Dora scored two goals in the opening 3:15. This is when the game started to slip out of Oregon’s hands; its offense struggled to keep the ball and get past the USC defense.
Attacker Gabby Cleveland made several attempts to bring her Ducks team back into the game. She made several long range shots throughout the game as a result of the defense not allowing inside shots. She found her way past USC’s Kate Devir three times to record a hat trick and tied McCarthy for the team leading scoring with 30 season goals.
Her third goal came late in the fourth quarter after spinning around the USC defender with just under two minutes remaining, her last attempt to bring much needed energy to the Oregon offense. Oregon fell to USC after being unable to make up the deficit USC created throughout the fourth quarter.
The Ducks will continue their quest for Pac-12 victories in an away match up against California at 3 p.m. on Friday.
