Everyone loves an upset story.
The idea of an up-and-coming team upsetting a national giant can be inspiring, enthralling and moving for many.
Saint Francis came to Eugene looking to do just that, with the Red Flash playing their first-ever Power-5 opponent Friday night at Papé Field.
Everyone loves an upset story — Except head coach Jessica Drummond and the now 2-0 Oregon women’s lacrosse team, which rode a five-goal second period to a 17-7 victory.
An upset looked possible in the early going as Oregon led just 2-1 at the end of the first period.
By the end of the contest, however, it was a blowout. The Ducks outshot their opponents 38-17.
Anna Simmons and Emma Ing had the opening goals for the Ducks — who played the first quarter trying to get a feel for their opponent.
Saint Francis’ Lizzie Fisher and Danielle Hernandez struck back, tying the game at 2-2 early in the second frame.
Then the floodgates opened. And it was all Oregon.
Taking advantage of a slower Red Flash defense, Haley Cummins scored a pair of goals and finished with five points on the day.
A Sydnie Soto forced turnover led to an Oregon run where freshman Avery Young added her second career assist as Ing scored darting in from the right side.
With still over ten minutes remaining in the half Oregon added another pair as Simmons found the net then assisted on Young’s first goal of her career.
“Honestly the speed of our team is amazing,” Pallo said. “We love to start off strong, and just keep it going, our team works so hard and I’m so excited for what the rest of the season has to come.”
After the impressive display of scoring which saw six goals in five minutes of action, both teams traded turnovers and saves, and headed into the half with the score 7-2.
“Give me sixty minutes of consistent play,” Drummond said. “I think we had a big no-goal spell in the second quarter and I was like ‘those are times where we have to capitalize’”.
The new half saw more of the same as Cummins notched her second hat-trick of the season just 49 seconds into the quarter.
A pair of Red Flash goals was quickly answered by Simmons and Pallo who scored a minute-and-a-half apart to extend Oregon’s lead to six.
Saint Francis forward Julia Givens (three goals) had a good look from the left side but Thayer Hubbard flashed her stick to come up with a good save.
On the other side of the field, Pallo ended the scoring for the quarter adding a goal from in-tight.
Oregon finished with 19 ground balls in a game it controlled throughout, the Ducks are yet to trail thus far in 2024.
Pallo’s 11 draw controls were good for the Oregon single-game record. When she broke the record with less than five minutes remaining, the entirety of the Oregon bench went wild in celebration.
“Rachel breaking the record on that draw control was so so incredible,” Drummond said. “those are the hustle moments, where we are taking advantage of being out there.”
Cummins and Simmons combined for 10 goals on the night including six in the fourth quarter alone, capping off another victory for the Ducks.
Although dominant on the scoresheet, Oregon was penalized a whopping 23 times, something that will plague the Ducks in Pac-12 play.
“I don’t want to be a team that racks up green cards in transition, and we had way too many cards,” Drummond said. “That’s something we can improve on next game.”
Oregon remains home and will have another week of practice as the Ducks prepare to take on Marist next Sunday at 2 p.m.
