For a team that thrives on quick ball movement and control in the midfield, a game could not have gone stylistically worse for Oregon lacrosse (3-2). 

The Ducks failed to control the midfield battle and clear the ball reliably as they allowed Eastern Michigan (4-2) to hold the ball for lengthy stretches and drain the clock while in the lead. While both teams generated sufficient offense in the first half, the slower pace benefitted the Eagles as they defended their way to a 12-9 victory over the Ducks in Eugene. 

“We have to get the ball on the draw to have the ball on offense,” Oregon head coach Jessica Drummond said. “Not letting them have those long possessions and wear us down, and we gotta be ready for those shots at any point in the game.”

The Eagles, greeted with classic Oregon gray and rain, played their first outdoor game of the year at Papé Field on Sunday afternoon. The Ducks looked to right the ship after a midweek battle against the California Golden Bears went the visitors’ way. 

Eastern Michigan opened the scoring just over a minute into the game after the Eagles won the first draw control and Roya Khaleeli converted on a smart cut to the middle. Oregon responded right away, even despite losing the next draw. 

Lyla Hurley found space over the middle and quickly finished off an excellent pass from Emma Ing. It was Hurley’s feed a few minutes later that Gabby Santucci converted for her first goal and the team’s first lead of the afternoon. 

The duo connected on the exact same cut for Santucci’s second goal as well, bringing the Ducks in control with a two-goal lead halfway through the first. Both finished Sunday’s game with hat tricks. 

Before the quarter ended, Santucci tore through the Eastern defense one more time to ensure the Ducks took the lead into the second period. 

To begin the second, the Eagles stifled the Oregon offense then ripped through its defense on the other end for a rapid run at goal that halved the Ducks’ lead at 5-4. Santucci responded with a curl around the point that got deflected in for Oregon’s sixth. 

The Ducks’ offense struggled to create, and the pressure mounted on their midfield to make plays. A desperate team is usually more prone to fouling, and a couple Oregon green cards later, the Eagles took the lead back about halfway through the second. 

EMU’s slow offense patiently broke down Oregon’s defense and the Eagles’ 9-7 halftime lead came as a result of steady ball movement and smart decision-making on attack. They also held possession more often than the Ducks, controlling 10/17 of the draws. 

“We got more stops on defense (in the first half),” Drummond said. “Just having the ball, finishing our shots and working as a unit. I think that was the biggest key that worked for us, and when we weren’t working as a unit, that’s what failed for us.”

Oregon’s leader, senior midfielder Anna Simmons, had a quiet first half. After the break, though, she opened the third by controlling the first two draws and scoring the half’s first goal. Eastern Michigan slowed the game’s pace right after that goal, preventing attack opportunities for the Ducks. 

In the third, they struggled to clear the ball to the midfield, but timely saves from deputy goalie Francesca Viteritti, who replaced Kate Shields at halftime, and strong defense around the crease prevented the Eagles from building on their lead. 

After over seven scoreless minutes, Oregon finally converted its quick counter-attack into a score, as Simmons raced through Eastern’s midfield untouched and found the net after dodging two defenders. That tied the game at nine, and Viteritti’s three saves in the quarter proved crucial, as it allowed the low-scoring period to benefit Oregon, who held all the momentum heading into the final frame. 

The momentum stopped in its tracks once Simmons, the offensive engine during the second half, left the game abruptly, holding her shoulder. The Eagles responded to this almost immediately with their first two goals of the half, both from point blank range. 

“(Anna) is such a gritty powerhorse, she’ll get the ball back and she loves those big superhero plays,” Drummond said. “And we rely on those and we’d love for more people to do what she can do on the field.”

Simmons returned to the field, but she was clearly hobbled, which demoted her to decoy after spending the entire third quarter as the team’s focal point on both ends. Oregon’s offense fell flat and remained uninspired, and while the Ducks got shots on net a couple different times, Eastern used every second of the shot clock and stopped Oregon’s clear attempts on goal. 

Even while short-handed in the final two minutes, Eastern Michigan’s defense held up. It was the Ducks who took the third quarter 2-0, but the Eagles recovered and found themselves on the right side of a 3-0 fourth.

Oregon now takes its second-straight loss into a full week of rest, and faces the University of California, Davis Aggies next Saturday afternoon at 12 p.m.