The Oregon lacrosse team set a program record for most wins in a season after picking up its 10th and 11th victories against California and Saint Mary’s this weekend.
The Ducks, winners in eight of their last 10 matches, have yet to lose in a Mountain Pacific Sports Federation contest. Oregon will finish out its regular season on the road against No. 17 Denver (13-2, 3-0 MPSF) Saturday at 1 p.m.
The Ducks (11-5, 4-0 MPSF) sit atop the conference standings with one more conference victory than Denver. The wins this weekend put Oregon in favorable position should history repeat itself.
Oregon has two more wins than Stanford, an NCAA Tournament team a year ago, had last season with one regular match remaining.
Stanford was 9-5 before beating Cornell in 2006. The Cardinal defeated Denver in the MPSF Final before becoming the first team west of the Mississippi to secure an NCAA Tournament berth. Oregon, which beat Stanford in the season opener, has one more match and the MPSF Tournament to prove it belongs in the NCAA Tournament field, too. The winner of the conference tournament is not guaranteed a bid to the NCAA Tournament, but given Stanford’s selection last year, the opportunity is there.
The Ducks began their final march toward that goal with a 16-10 victory against California (5-6, 1-1) on Saturday.
Jen May’s first of three goals came at the 15:34 mark against the Golden Bears. The goal snapped a 3-3 tie and set off a six-goal run to conclude the first half.
California reduced Oregon’s advantage after going on a 3-1 run to begin the second half. Both teams each scored seven goals in the final 30 minutes, but the Ducks ignited with a three-goal run nearly halfway through the second half that helped secure the squad’s 10th victory of the year.
Jana Bradley and May each had hat tricks. Ilsa van den Berg and Alison Leiner netted two goals each and added assists. Lindsay Killian recorded two goals while Brooke Dieringer added a goal and two assists.
For the Golden Bears, Liz Reifsnyder scored a game-high four points off two goals and two assists. Three other California players scored three points.
“We pieced together a really complete effort in every facet of the game today,” head coach Jen Larsen said in an Oregon press release. “Our goalkeeping was phenomenal, the defense played tremendous and our offense was able to make some really great plays.”
Goalkeeper Anna Poponyak, who suffered an ACL injury earlier this year, played all 60 minutes and made eight saves in the match, including seven in the first half.
Oregon outshot California 35-22.
The Ducks then beat Saint Mary’s (3-10, 0-3 MPSF) 15-7 on Sunday in Moraga, Calif.
Oregon unloaded nine consecutive goals in the opening 22 minutes to earn a 9-0 advantage, while it took Saint Mary’s 26 minutes just to get on the board. Bradley, Dieringer and van den Berg each netted two goals during the run to give Oregon a 10-3 lead at the half. Oregon shut the door in the second half after grabbing a 13-3 lead when Leiner scored with 23:57 remaining. The Gaels scored the game’s last two goals, but it was simply too little and too late.
van den Berg exploded offensively, leading all scorers with five points off three goals and two assists. Bradley added three goals for her second hat trick of the weekend. May and Dieringer both netted two goals and added one assist. Leiner and Jenny Browne each registered two goals.
Sam Debow, who relieved Poponyak, recorded 11 saves, all of which came in the second half. Poponyak clocked in 18 minutes, made one save and did not allow a goal.
The Ducks outshot Saint Mary’s 37-25 in the match and won 14 of the 23 draw controls.