The Oregon women’s lacrosse team took on the California Golden Bears on Sunday and won 18-9 in a dominant performance at Pape Field.
Cal scored the first goal just one minute into the game, but the Ducks fought back and tied it one minute later with a goal from senior midfielder Bella Pyne. She would go on to score two more goals in the first half alone.
First-year head coach Katrina Dowd was happy with how her team played, and credited Pyne to getting the team going in the first half.
“Total team effort,” Dowd said. “Offensively specifically, I think that everyone contributed. Bella [Pyne] started the day off, set the tone just with her speed and aggressiveness. I think the rest of the team, once we settled in, really took it from there.”
The goal scoring went back and forth until it was tied at 3-3. From there, the Ducks rallied a streak of nine-straight unanswered goals to lead the Golden Bears 11-3 at halftime. Those goals were scored by Pyne, junior Cambi Cukar, Mariah Gatti, freshman Julia Bolte and Shannon Williams, who scored a total of four goals in the first half.
The Ducks never let up.
When Oregon came out for the second half, the Ducks started off scoring with a goal by JoJo Hesketh, assisted by Cukar. Cukar assisted another goal, scored by Bolte, with 25:09 remaining in the game.
The Ducks led 13-3 until Cal answered back just one minute later with a goal by Elizabeth Pellechi.
The Ducks added another player to the list of athletes with hat tricks on the day when Gatti scored with 23:28 left on the clock. She scored her fourth goal just two minutes later. Pyne also scored her fourth goal of the day three minutes after. With 18 minutes remaining in the game, Oregon was up 16-4.
Cal scored just its second goal of the half with 15:25 on the clock, but the Ducks were not far behind. Hesketh scored the 17th Oregon goal of the day with 12:44 on the clock.
The Golden Bears narrowed the deficit to eight with four consecutive goals, scored by Jena Fritz, Susie Ropp and two by Caroline Schlegel. With just over four minutes remaining in play, Oregon led 17-9.
Oregon’s Lindsey Kail wrapped up the scoring with a goal with 54 seconds left in the game, putting the ducks up 18-9.
The 18 points scored is a season-high for the Ducks who scored 11 goals in each previous matchup this season.
Other highlights for the Ducks included five draw controls by Hesketh and five assists by Cukar, who led the team in assists last year with 46. Senior goalie Becca Katzen recorded four goals blocked.
Next up, the Ducks head to Fresno State on Sunday to take on the Bulldogs.
“I think we’re ready to put on a different color than white,” Cukar said. “We’re ready to take on more teams in our conference and I’m excited.”
Follow Kylee O’Connor on Twitter @kyleethemightee