Oregon women’s lacrosse defeated Richmond 15-11 at Papé Field on a blustery and rainy Sunday afternoon. The Ducks were able to come alive after an early misstep, pouring it on with a flurry of offense.
“I liked the overall effort through four quarters, which we have really been emphasizing,” Oregon head coach Jen Beck said. “We made sure we didn’t have any lulls, which has been a problem for us this season.”
Leading the Ducks (6-1, 1-1 MPSF) was senior Olivia Pyne, who was able to find the back of the net throughout the match. She put together several creative attacks, finishing with six goals. Her goal total is a new single-game record in her career at Oregon.
“I was getting some good feeds,” Pyne said. “Everyone was hitting me at the right time on the stick, and I was able to fake and shoot.”
The Spiders (3-5) won the opening draw and quickly got into their attack, putting pressure on the Duck defense. Oregon looked sloppy early on, failing to secure the ball and giving up easy turnovers.
Richmond took advantage, scoring the opening goal just 30 seconds into the match. The Spider goal scorer was junior midfielder Emily Newman.
“I think that just amped us up even more, because we don’t like when the other team scores first,” Pyne said. “We were like ‘no, this is our turf.’”
Oregon recovered quickly with a burst of goals before heading into halftime up 7-5. Pyne got things going with the equalizer seven minutes into the game, patiently working through the attack before slipping a shot past the Richmond keeper Emily Boyce.
Four other Ducks scored before halftime, including a pair from both Courtney Valdez and Carly O’Connell.
Coming out of the break, Richmond struck again early, scoring in just over a minute. This time, the goal was scored by freshman Kim Egizi.
Just like in the first, both teams went on a scoring frenzy as neither made much noise on the defensive end. All the focus was instead on offense. Both also struggled with turnovers — Oregon had 14 and Richmond had 16.
Leading the way for Richmond was the early goal scorer Newman, who ended the game with three.
Freshman Cambi Cukar was overshadowed by the plethora of scores as she got her teammates open looks on goal. She strung together several impressive passes, ending the game with two assists.
By the end, the Ducks were able to keep the pressure on Richmond the entire game, maintaining the lead throughout the second half. The Ducks netted eight, while slowing the pace of the game to claim the victory.
“This team is a team of grinders, there are no individuals,” Pyne said. “We have made strides to make the connections necessary to win a game like this.”
Next on the schedule for Oregon will be a road trip down to Fresno, California, as they take on Monmouth and Fresno State. The first game will be on the March 21.
Follow Christopher Keizur on Twitter @chriskeizur