Women refuse to play by Cardinal rules in Bay Area

Daily Emerald

February 7, 2008

If you ask the Oregon women’s lacrosse players to name the defining moment of last season, they won’t mention the team’s second-place conference finish, its best record in the team’s young history or their head coach being named conference coach of the year.
Instead, they focus on their disappointing third-place finish at the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation tournament as year-long motivation.

Oregon at Stanford

When: Tomorrow, 7 p.m.
Where: Palo Alto, Calif.

“We beat Stanford in the (regular) season pretty handily but then we went to the tournament and just got rocked,” said senior midfielder Jen May. “We have some redeeming to do.”
Oregon gets its chance tomorrow against Stanford in Palo Alto, Calif., before playing conference opponent UC-Davis on Sunday. The Ducks have never beat Stanford in Palo Alto.
If last season’s 12-7 (4-1 MPSF) record and ranking of No. 20 put the program on the map, head coach Jen Larsen wants to make sure Oregon doesn’t lose any of its momentum in 2008. Oregon returns three all-MPSF players this season in May, junior defender Alicia Burkhart and junior attacker Ilsa Van den Berg. Despite the accolades and being runner-up to Denver for the MPSF regular season crown, Oregon lost to Stanford 8-2 in the second round of the season-ending conference tournament before beating Cal to win third place. Oregon was picked to finish third, behind Denver and Stanford, respectively, in the conference pre-season poll.

An Opposing Coach’s View

The Emerald asked a Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Conference coach familiar with the Ducks to break down the team’s upcoming season. The coach agreed to do this anonymously so as to not undermine their own team’s strategy for defeating the Ducks.
Strengths: “I think that they play with a lot of passion. They come out to compete against every team, regardless if you’re a ranked opponent or an unranked opponent.”
Weaknesses: “You know, weaknesses in the past have probably been youth. I think being a young program and building up with a freshman class going on, you lack a bit of leadership with your older players, so I would say I don’t know that will be a weakness for them this year but I can see that being an issue for them in the past.”
X-Factor: “I think the confidence of last year’s season. Beating Stanford, having some close games with other teams, doing well in the conference tournament, too, that confidence is going to put them on a ride this year, and I think they’ll be a little more hungry. In fall practices especially, when you’ve have a good season, you feel more free to try some new things. And I think that when you try to do that you get stronger as a player.”

“I think we’re definitely headed in the right direction, with the leadership and the senior class being so experienced,” said Larsen, the 2007 MPSF coach of the year.
For the eight true seniors who were part of the first-ever recruiting class for the Duck lacrosse program, tomorrow’s game begins their final season in an Oregon uniform. The seniors carry a 1-3 record against the Cardinal, beating then-No. 16 Stanford in last season’s opener 10-6 in Eugene. Larsen believes the seniors are realizing how close they are to finishing their careers at Oregon.
“We don’t have another opportunity to take Stanford until the tournament if we’re matched up against them, and it could be the last time they play them,” said Larsen. “I think they’re staring to feel that urgency.”
Van den Berg, Theresa Waldron and May are the team’s top point scorers from last year, with Waldron’s 22 assists leading the team. Offensively, the Ducks will have to replace the scoring threats of Katie Fleming, Brooke Dieringer and Alison Leiner, who combined to score 87 goals and 119 points last season. Dieringer, a transfer from North Carolina, completed her eligibility and is now an assistant on Larsen’s coaching staff, while Leiner and Fleming left the program.
At the defensive end, goalkeeper Anna Poponyak’s 9.2 goals against average was good enough for second in the six-team conference, posting a 7-5 record as the starter. Burkhart’s 23 caused turnovers were second only to May’s 34.
“We’ve been looking so great on offense and defense. We’re finally gelling, everyone’s playing as a unit and Stanford won’t expect it,” said Van den Berg. “It’ll be a good win for the seniors, since it’ll be the last time they’ll play there.”
Oregon will make a cross-country trip to Virginia for two non-conference games on Feb. 22 against Virginia Tech and Feb. 24 against Richmond before its home opener March 1 against LeMoyne. North Carolina, a 2007 NCAA tournament quarterfinalist and the school Larsen was an assistant at and Dieringer played at, will play in Eugene on March 11, the first time the Tar Heels have played in Eugene.
“We got ranked in the top 20 last year which was huge, and if we can beat some of these East Coast teams … it will definitely be a big factor whether or not we make it in.”
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