For the first time in Oregon’s Club Sports history, the men’s lacrosse team has a shot at winning the Pacific Northwest College Lacrosse League title.
After going 8-0 in league play and beating Simon Fraser University outside Vancouver, British Columbia — a team that has never lost on its home field — the Ducks have good reason to believe this year belongs to them.
“This year we are all committed to one goal — St. Louis,” senior Joshua Waldman said. “We want to live up to the dream that some of us have set since our freshman year.”
On Sunday, the Ducks ended their regular season undefeated, the last win coming at home against rival Oregon State. Not only did Oregon players feel good about their 16-5 victory over the Beavers, but the win also gave the Ducks the No. 1 seed in the Pacific Northwest College Lacrosse Tournament.
The tournament will be in Seattle on April 30 to May 2 at Mercer
Island High School. The winner will be named the league champion and will automatically get a berth in the National Tournament held May 12 through 15 in St. Louis.
Nine conference divisions will each send a conference champion and seven at-large bids are filled by a committee.
Oregon lacrosse Coordinator Jon Opet said there are “eight schools that constantly fight for the National Championship.” This year, the Ducks are in position to compete against those top teams and earn a place among them.
With a 12-6 overall record and No. 9 national ranking, the Ducks have seen a transformation in the level of their play. Oregon’s losses have all come from ranked opponents, and it is those games that have pushed the Ducks to become better.
The Ducks began to pick up their level of play and became determined to perform like a nationally-ranked team by the middle of the spring season, Opet said.
“Our offense began to value ball possession more, and on defense we really stepped up our level of play,” Opet said.
Oregon saw Waldman score his 100th career goal on Saturday, which was the first time any player has ever reached the mark in the school’s lacrosse history. The Ducks also found a reason to celebrate when Dave Wyer scored his first career goal. Wyer’s first goal was a tribute to his younger brother, whom Wyer would not discuss but said had passed away “a couple of years ago.”
Wyer attributes the team’s success this year to their performance both on and off the field.
Wyer said the 40 members of the lacrosse team now serve as his “little brothers” and that the team is “a closely knit bunch who have logged thousands of miles together all up and down the West Coast.”
The Ducks have traveled as far north as Canada and as far south as San Diego. The missing piece to the puzzle, they say, is the trip east, to St. Louis.
“It would be huge for us to compete in St. Louis,” Waldman said. “It would be the first time in school history, and we would prove to the league that we are for real this year.”
Before the conference tournament, Oregon wants to make sure it is ready to play and perform when it counts.
“We’ve definitely been working on harnessing all of our talent and pointing it in the same direction,” Waldman said.