Sophomore midfielder Sarah MacDonald’s first goal four minutes into the match against Lehigh (4-6) on Saturday was her first of the year.
Her second, with just 4:29 remaining, proved to be the difference maker in Oregon’s 11-10 victory in Bethlehem, Pa.
The Ducks are now 9-5 overall and 2-0 in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation after they went 2-2 on the road in Maryland, New York and Philadelphia during Spring Break. Prior to the split, Oregon had won four straight matches, all at Papé Field.
In a tug-of-war for the lead late in the battle, Lehigh began matching Oregon’s offensive production after the Ducks established a 5-2 advantage by halftime. The Mountain Hawks tied the contest up four times in a hotly contested second half, which saw Lehigh’s Inneke Carmola score four of the first five goals.
With 5:56 remaining, junior Lindsay Killian blasted in a goal to secure a 10-9 lead for the Ducks and MacDonald’s goal gave them a two-goal advantage that proved necessary after Lissy King’s free position score with 25 seconds remaining brought Lehigh within a single goal. The Mountain Hawks then forced a turnover, but could not find the back of the net in the final seconds to force overtime.
Oregon never trailed in the contest. Senior Brooke Dieringer, who netted four goals against Stony Brook prior to the game against Lehigh, recorded another four-goal performance. Junior Theresa Waldron and Dieringer each concluded the game with a team-high five points – Waldron’s coming off of three goals and two assists. She also recorded four draw controls.
Coach Jen Larsen said Dieringer’s leadership and composure helped accelerate everyone’s performance on the field.
“She was there at the right time … she made an impact in all our matches,” Larsen said.
The Ducks outshot the Mountain Hawks 33-27 in the match and won 16 of 23 draws in the game.
“We really surged forward with the power and momentum that we created in the beginning,” Larsen added.
Freshman goalkeeper Sam Debow played the entire game for the Ducks and made ten saves. She had taken a back seat in Oregon’s previous two matches after teammate Anna Poponyak returned from an anterior cruciate ligament injury that kept her out five matches. Poponyak injured her left ACL on March 4 against the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, but returned to action to help the Ducks edge out Columbia 13-12.
“It was good to have both goalies back in the cage,” Larsen said. “It was nice to see a lot of different faces on the field (during the break).”
Oregon returns to its MPSF schedule April 14, when the Ducks travel to battle California in Berkeley, Calif. at 11 a.m. Oregon has three conference road matches left in its regular season schedule. After that, the Ducks travel to Davis, Calif., to compete in the MPSF tournament, which Oregon hosted last year. For now, Larsen said, she and her team aren’t looking beyond Berkeley.
“We are coming back from spring break and recuperating from a challenging March and rejuvenating for April,” Larsen said. “We’ve got to perform the rest of our regular season and post season and conference tournament before we start thinking about (the NCAA Tournament). We have to refocus and finish strong.”