Oregon lacrosse began its final road trip of the regular season with a tough loss against No. 15 Stanford, falling 15-10 on the road Thursday night.
The Ducks found themselves down big early as the Cardinal jumped out to a fast start. Stanford was able to take advantage of some sloppy play from Oregon to extend a 4-0 lead.
On the game the Ducks struggled to keep up with the Stanford attack, as they were outshot 31-18. Despite the discrepancy, they were able to fight back into the contest in the second half, however they couldn’t muster enough to snag the victory.
Three scorers led the way for Oregon, as Casey Brogan, Holly Johnson and Olivia Pyne all collected two goals.
The first Duck goal came with 22:43 left in the first half. Freshman attacker Cambi Cukar continued her strong play of late by finding teammate Johnson on the cut for the score. Cukar ended with two assists.
The Cardinal responded with four straight goals to jump back out to an 8-1 lead, eventually heading into halftime ahead 10-3.
Leading the way for the Cardinal was junior midfielder Mackenzie Tesei. She finished with a game-high four goals on six shots.
In the second half Oregon continued its recent trend of clawing back into matches. They out scored Stanford 7-5 in the second, though as usual the clock worked against them.
Oregon struggled with draw controls throughout the match, allowing Stanford extra possessions. The Cardinal finished with 18 more controls than the road team.
The next game on the schedule will be against UC Davis on the road Friday. The match is set to start at noon.
Follow Christopher Keizur on Twitter @chriskeizur