The Oregon women’s lacrosse team wrapped up its season with an 18-13 loss against San Diego State on Thursday in the first round of the MPSF Tournament.
Head coach Katrina Dowd finishes up her first season with a 9-8 (5-3 MPSF) record.
The Ducks were ranked No. 4 going into the tournament, but struggled early against No. 5 seed San Diego State. The Aztecs scored two goals right out of the gate, but Oregon was quick to respond, scoring three-straight to take the lead. That would be the Ducks’ only lead all game. Those goals were scored by Cambi Cukar (2) and Shannon Williams.
San Diego State took the momentum right back, scoring four more unanswered goals over the course of three minutes to take over, 6-3. Williams and Cukar would each put another goal in the back of the net before halftime, but it wasn’t enough to keep up with San Diego State who scored five more to lead 11-5 after the first period.
The Ducks came out strong at the beginning of the second half, going on a 5-1 run to narrow the Aztec’s lead to two with 17:43 remaining in the game.
With the Ducks gaining momentum, San Diego State pushed on the gas pedal to score five unanswered goals and lead 17-10 with less than nine minutes to play.
Oregon tried to fight back, outscoring the Aztecs 3-1 in the final minutes of the game, but ultimately fell 18-13 in Los Angeles, California.
Cukar led the Ducks with a lifetime best eight points (five goals and three assists). Not far behind was Shannon Williams who scored four.
Williams was selected as an All-MPSF first-team attacker and also also broke the Oregon single-season record for goals with 51. After tallying four points against the Aztecs, she also added the Oregon single-season record for points to her resume.
After her three assists against San Diego State, Cukar tallies a total of 42 assists to lead the MPSF. She also is the Oregon all-time leader in career assists with 124.
Follow Kylee O’Connor on Twitter @kyleethemightee