On Monday morning after a second-place finish at the Pacific Northwest Collegiate Lacrosse League playoffs this past weekend in Tacoma, Wash., the Oregon men’s club lacrosse team received an at-large bid to the Men’s Collegiate Lacrosse Association National Championships.
The Ducks, the No. 2 seed in the PNCLL tournament, held off a strong effort from No. 3 seed Washington, defeating the Huskies 10-9 in a semifinal match Saturday evening. Oregon jumped out to an early 5-2 lead behind the strong play of junior attacker Justin Blackmore, whose multiple first-half goals earned him Player of the Game honors. However, the Huskies took advantage of an uncharacteristically sloppy Duck defense and countered Oregon’s early attack with an attack of their own.
After halftime adjustments, the Oregon momentum posed problems for the Huskies, as the man-down unit gave the Duck defense a much-needed rest. However, as it had done in the first quarter, Washington answered back. With the scored tied 9-9, their season on the line and a birth to nationals up in the air, the Ducks’ ride knocked in the eventual game-winning goal with a minute left in the fourth quarter. After regaining possession and using a time out to set up one final play, UW’s last second shot was snuffed out by sophomore goalkeeper Nick Johnson, sealing the 10-9 victory for the Ducks.
After easily taking care of No. 4 seed Oregon State Beavers 16-2 in Saturday’s other semifinal match, the top-seeded Simon Fraser University Clansmen, from Burnaby, British Columbia, advanced to meet the Ducks in the PNCLL Championship game on Sunday.
In addition to the ongoing rivalry between the two teams, Sunday’s championship game was of equal importance for the Clansmen (13-1, 9-0) and the Ducks (11-6, 8-1), predicted at the beginning of the 2008-2009 PNCLL season to finish first and second, respectively. For Oregon, a win meant an automatic bid to the MCLA National Championships, and because Simon Fraser hadn’t played enough non-conference games during the season to be eligible for an at-large bid, a loss in the PNCLL Championship meant an end to its season.
As the game got underway Simon Fraser capitalized on man-down situations to take an early lead, but early goals by junior attacker Chad Loescher brought the Ducks to within one by halftime, trailing 4-3.
Anchored by Johnston, sophomore defenseman Austin Zillis and senior long stick middle (LSM) Cole Magnuson, the Duck defense, which had not shown up in usual form during the UW game, controlled much of the first half.
But the Clansmen took control in the third quarter with three quick goals and extended the lead, 7-3. At the onset of the fourth quarter, the Ducks came storming back. They countered Simon Fraser’s run with four consecutive goals to tie the game at 7, but late mistakes proved costly for the Ducks. In what turned out to be a seesaw battle of scoring runs, SFU closed the game out with four more goals, capitalizing on a series of ensuing rushed clears, turnovers, and lost possessions to defeat the Ducks 11-7.
After playing the Clansmen tough during both meetings this season and surviving a grueling non-conference schedule in which the Ducks played both the No. 2 and No. 3 teams in the nation, Oregon was rewarded with an at-large bid Monday morning.
“Losing the SFU game, I didn’t think we were going to make it in (the national tournament),” said junior Jon Matusiefsky, who along with his teammates was awoken Monday by a chain of text messages relaying the good news.
As the 15th seed, the Ducks are scheduled to face Brigham Young University in the first round of the MCLA National Championships in Commerce City, Colo., at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park, May 12 at 4 p.m. The No. 2 Cougars defeated the University of Colorado Buffaloes 11-10 Saturday to clinch the Rocky Mountain Conference Championship and earn the No. 2 seed in the tournament.
The Ducks will spend the next week-and-a-half of practices preparing for a BYU team that beat them 15-8 during a February match in St. Cloud, Minn.
“We have seen BYU twice this year, once in the fall and once in the spring, so we think we know what we’re going to see,” Matusiefsky said.
For the young Duck squad, which has only three seniors, this will be a chance to make good on a goal they have had since they were left out of the MCLA National Championships last year.
“Since the beginning of the year we had the expectation of making it to nationals and making a run once we got there,” Matusiefsky said. “We have played several top teams during the regular season and we know we can compete with everyone, so we expect to do very well in Denver.”
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