The Oregon men’s club lacrosse team appears to have turned things around for the better.
After starting the season 0-4, the No. 20 Ducks (5-6, 2-0 Pacific Northwest Collegiate Lacrosse League) have won five of their last seven games, including a pair of dominant wins last week over San Diego State and Portland State.
“We learned a lot from those first four games,” senior midfielder Kevin Clark said. “We’re a pretty young team, and it was just a learning experience at the beginning.”
Anchored by a 10-goal fourth quarter, the Ducks coasted past San Diego State in a 21-5 romp at the Nex-Turf Field on campus Thursday night. At Portland State on Saturday, the Ducks continued to roll, overwhelming the Vikings 17-3.
“We’re realizing that we need to be consistent and play all four quarters,” Oregon head coach Joe Kerwin said about his team’s mindset as of late.
Oregon 21, San Diego State 5
Led by Clark’s three goals and three assists, the Ducks’ offense flourished against San Diego State (4-8, 1-1 Southwestern Lacrosse Conference). Oregon’s 21 goals were its highest single-game total thus far in the season.
The Aztecs were able to keep the score close early on in the contest. After Oregon jumped out to a 3-0 lead midway through the first quarter, San Diego State cut the Ducks’ lead to one with back-to-back goals. The 3-2 count was the closest the Aztecs got to keeping pace with Oregon all night.
“It’s all about coming out and playing fast,” senior attacker Justin Eckenroad said. “When we come out and play fast, it’s real hard to beat us.”
Eckenroad added three goals and an assist, while freshman attacker Brandon Blackmore and senior midfielder Erik Lyneis each contributed two goals and an assist for the Ducks.
The offense’s command of the game was equaled by a stalwart effort from the defense, which only surrendered one goal to the Aztecs in the second half.
“Our defense did a great job (Thursday),” Eckenroad said. “When (San Diego State) had the ball in their sticks, we were out on their sticks, throwing checks every time.”
Oregon 17, Portland State 3
The Ducks kept up the winning ways in their contest two days later with conference rival Portland State (2-5, 0-2 PNCLL).
“We were able to kind of emulate how we played against San Diego State and just carried it over for the Portland State game,” Clark said. “I think that just showed with how we played.”
Against the Vikings, Oregon managed another offensive outpouring, while the defense was even stingier than it was two nights prior.
“We just kind of manhandled them in all aspects of the game,” Clark added.
Blackmore, senior attacker Danny Purcell and freshman midfielder Evan Merritt led the Ducks with three goals each. Junior attacker Corbin Root and junior midfielder Spencer Robertson added two goals each.
“Right now our confidence is really high,” Clark said. “We’ve strung together a few good victories, and although we’ve had a few close losses, our confidence is high, and we know that all of our games coming up are very important and meaningful.”
What’s ahead
The Ducks now shift their focus to a pair of home contests this weekend against two unyielding opponents. They’ll encounter No. 18 Simon Fraser (4-5) on Friday and No. 7 Cal Poly (9-2) on Sunday.
After starting the season 2-2, Cal Poly is on a roll with seven straight victories. Cal Poly’s junior attacker Scott Heberer is also tied for third in country with 58 points on the year.
Meanwhile, Simon Fraser has struggled with consistency this season but managed convincing wins in its last two games: a 31-8 blowout of Idaho and a 32-5 destruction of Gonzaga.
Simon Fraser is a conference foe to Oregon, and the Ducks are looking forward to the matchup against their Canadian adversaries.
“It’s a huge rivalry,” Clark said. “They’re in our conference, and we have them at home. It’s a very exciting game, and everyone knows what it means for us.”
The Ducks have three more games before the conference tournament takes place next month in Hillsboro. After this weekend’s games, the Ducks head to Portland next week to battle Oregon State. The team knows it’s in an important part of the schedule.
“We can’t afford any more losses,” Eckenroad said, “and we’re not going to accept them.”
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