The Oregon Club women’s water polo team finished its season at the Collegiate National Championships last weekend with an eighth-place finish.
Despite an opening-game victory over Penn State, the seventh-seeded Ducks lost their last three matches to finish the tournament with a 1-3 record.
Amanda Fay, Becky Bland and Courtney Ashford paced the Oregon attack. Fay and Bland finished the weekend with five goals, and Ashford finished with six.
“We felt that we played really well, just not as strong as we needed to,” team coordinator Kristen Laird said. “But Nationals is an awesome place to get to, and we are pleased with the outcome of the season.”
Oregon advanced to the tournament after finishing with a 13-3 record in the Northwest Intercollegiate League. The Ducks then secured first place at the regional qualifier, earning a trip as the seventh seed to the Nationals at Texas A&M.
The Ducks met 10th-seeded Penn State in
the first game and jumped out quickly to a three-point lead after the first quarter, which proved to be the game’s final margin of victory. The Nittany Lions kept the game close, but Oregon prevailed with a 9-6 win and advanced to take on Dartmouth in the second round. Ashford finished with five of Oregon’s nine goals.
“We played phenomenal defense,” Laird said. “We pretty much shut down any offense they had.”
In the second game against second-seeded Dartmouth, the Ducks battled to a 2-2 tie at halftime but could not overcome four unanswered goals in the third quarter by the Big Green and fell 8-4.
The loss matched Oregon with the MIT Engineers. Again, the Ducks were able to keep the score close until MIT halted the Oregon attack and added six goals of its own in the last three quarters to overwhelm the Ducks 9-3. Ashford and Bland accounted for all Oregon goals.
The final game of the weekend pitted Oregon against the Air Force Academy. Despite a 5-3 advantage at halftime, the Ducks could not fend off a furious second half by the Falcons in which the team scored four goals. Still, Oregon entered the final quarter clinging to a one-point lead, but the Falcons managed to tie the game and send it into overtime.
In the first of two extra quarters, Air Force took a three-goal advantage and hung on
after the second overtime to escape with an 11-10 victory.
“We had a high number of shots taken, but we were not executing,” Laird said. “It was definitely bittersweet because we knew we played well and had a great season.”