In the first ever Pac-12 women’s lacrosse tournament game, Oregon defeated California 22-9 to advance to the semifinal of the tournament on Thursday.
Oregon got off to a quick start against Cal, as the Ducks jumped out to a 9-1 lead over the Golden Bears.
After Cal ended the first half on a 4-1 run, the Ducks possessed an 11-6 lead at halftime with senior Jill Zubillaga leading the way with four goals, and fellow senior Mariah Gatti just behind her with three.
Zubillaga went on to score six goals for the Ducks, passing junior Shannon Williams for the most goals — 52 — in a single season for the Ducks after Zubillaga’s first goal.
The second half saw junior midfielder Julia Taylor score her first goal of the year to give Oregon a 14-8 lead. Senior midfielder Natalie Modly went on a run of her own, tallying four straight goals to get her total for the game up to six — the single-game high for Oregon is seven, set in 2009 by Jana Drummond.
Williams got herself on the board as well, finding the net three times as she and three other Ducks earned hat tricks in the win.
The Ducks had beaten Cal when the teams faced off in Eugene earlier this year but Oregon lost the second fixture in Berkeley.
Now Oregon has to get prepared for a quick turnaround for Friday’s matchup against the Pac-12 regular season champions, Colorado.
Follow Shawn Medow on Twitter @ShawnMedow