On June 23, 2023, Jessica Drummond became the fourth Oregon women’s lacrosse head coach and first Duck lacrosse alumna to hold the position in program history. Two days later, Drummond was on a plane to Europe with the team for a week of exploration, competition and bonding.
“It all fell into place really fast,” Drummond said. “This trip was such a unique intimate opportunity for me to meet the players as people first and for the players to get to know me before stepping onto the field.”
Drummond, her husband and other members of the Oregon lacrosse staff accompanied the players throughout the week-long trip. The international tour encompassed travel and matchplay experience throughout three different countries: Portugal, Spain and Morocco.
Not only did the team develop their game and strengthen their team unity in Portugal, they also grew the game internationally by teaching local Portuguese youth how to play lacrosse. In addition to matchplay and teaching experiences, the team learned how to surf in Lisbon, Portugal, and explored Tangier, Morocco, on camels.
In Monte Gordo, Portugal, the Ducks met up with Team England Women’s Lacrosse for a weekend of cross-cultural connection and competition. Following a two-hour joint training session, Oregon played the 2022 World Lacrosse Women’s Championship bronze medalists, Team England. In the first match on Saturday, July 1, England defeated the Ducks, 12-8. The next day, in the second and final matchup, Oregon responded with a 8-7 victory over their English opponents.
“It was really empowering to see how much progress we made in 24-hours lacrosse-wise,” Drummond said. “To see the players rally and get our first win as a team was very special.” The last time that Drummond won a lacrosse game as a Duck was on April 29, 2012, versus Stanford; she contributed two goals to the 13-10 victory over the Cardinals.
Drummond, a four-year letter winner standout at UO from 2009-2012, was a three-time second-team All-Mountain Pacific Sports Federation selection. She finished her time at Oregon ranked fourth in program history in career draw controls with 130, fifth in caused turnovers with 61 and sixth in ground balls with 98.
“From the moment I arrived as a freshman at UO, I fell in love with the place, the people and the culture that the athletic department cultivates,” Drummond said. “Oregon has always been my dream job.”
Prior to returning to Eugene, Drummond spent the last seven years in Burlington, Vermont. She first served as assistant coach for the University of Vermont women’s lacrosse team before becoming head coach for the last four seasons. Drummond accumulated a 40-30 overall record as the head coach.
In 2022, Drummond helped lead the Catamounts to take home their first America East Tournament championship in program history. Among the championship roster was Carolyn Carrera, who Drummond recently named as her assistant coach for the upcoming season.
In Carrera’s last season at Vermont, she became the first player in Vermont history to earn America East Defender of the Year. The New York native led the country in caused turnovers per game, with 3.56 per game, and finished 25th nationally in ground balls per game, with 2.69 per game.
Drummond said she and Carrera are excited to coach this group of women. “The players are so eager and ready to be pushed and challenged on the lacrosse field,” Drummond said. “This trip showed me how close the team is; how much fun they have together and how much they care about each other. If we keep this energy up and stay motivated and cohesive, I think we can win a Pac-12 championship.”
Drummond will migrate to Eugene in mid-August, a month before preseason begins giving her enough time to acclimate to the Pacific Northwest climate and take out her Duck gear from storage.
Both Carrera and Drummond will bring their East Coast accolades to the West Coast in an eager attempt to generate similar standout players and performances in the Pac-12.
