A year after her team struggled to score on the way to a losing record, Oregon head coach Jessica Drummond watched several faces new and old have little trouble putting the ball in the net.
It was an enjoyable introduction for a new and vastly improved team Monday night at Papé Field, Oregon lacrosse (1-0) rolled to an impressive 18-6 victory over Butler (0-1).
“I loved seeing fresh faces scoring goals out there tonight,” Drummond said. “It was really awesome to just get a full team win, everyone we could potentially get into the game we got into the game.”
There wasn’t much for Drummond to complain about except maybe some defensive slippage and a few sloppy rotations in the second half of a game with little intrigue.
Eight different Ducks were able to debut their goal song on the night with Anna Simmons’ choice of “Back to Back” by Drake being played a whopping six times.
Drummond described herself as “fired up” coming into the first game of the season. And in a sign of things to come, the Ducks won the opening faceoff, stormed down the field with Bri Carrasquillo stomping in celebration after the Bulldogs compounded their mistake by allowing an easy goal.
“I think I jumped up like one leg in the air, it was awesome,” Carrasquillo, a Yale transfer, said of her first goal as a Duck.
It was the start of complete domination. Oregon outshot Butler 36 to 13 while committing five fewer turnovers and controlling 18 draws to 10 of Butler’s.
Butler goalie Alyssa Lentz ( nine saves, 18 goals allowed) was really the only factor doing anything to try and keep the Bulldogs in the game. Despite the lopsided stat line, Lentz made numerous impressive saves from in-tight. Much of her workload was exacerbated by a Bulldogs’ offense that was held without a shot on goal for almost the entire first quarter and just two over the first 30 minutes.
Paige Crowther was terrific in net for the Ducks, saving both shots she faced in the first half before being replaced by Casidy Eckert (six goals allowed, two saves) to start the third quarter.
“To come out how she did was really amazing,” Drummond said.
Butler actually netted the first goal of the second half, but any hopes of a monumental second half comeback died out for Butler when Oregon continued rattling in goals with its reserves in the game. Three third quarter goals helped the Ducks swell their 14-goal first half advantage.
A win would have been the Bulldogs’ second in nearly a calendar year, the most recent of which came on February 9, 2024, against Central Michigan and May 23 against Xavier.
Beating Oregon would have been an upset of biblical proportions, with the Ducks touting a significantly larger and faster roster. Oregon ran circles around the Bulldogs who frequently had no choice but to foul.
Next up is a similar challenge, Oregon takes on Stetson (4-11, 1-5 Atlantic Sun Conference in 2024) on Tuesday at 11 a.m.
“We are going to watch this film, prep from it, and prepare for Stetson,” Drummond said. “Enjoy the win… but we take what we can from this game to continue leveling up each game.”
“We just have to focus on our end goal, which is playing a complete game, a complete four quarters at the end of the day,” Carrasquillo said.
