Although Saturday marked the first-ever meeting between the Oregon women’s lacrosse team and Le Moyne College, the Dolphins were hardly unknown to Theresa Waldron.
Waldron, a senior attacker for the Ducks and a Liverpool, N.Y., native, put on a three-goal, three-assist show for some former high school teammates on the Dolphins’ roster, leading No. 19 Oregon to a 15-7 win.
The team’s victory, its fourth straight, matches a program record for consecutive wins.
“Four games in a row that shows we’re getting there,” said Waldron. “We just can’t let it stop.”
An alumna of Liverpool High School, a 10-minute trip from Le Moyne’s Syracuse, N.Y., campus, Waldron has played against several of the opposing players, making the résumé-building win over the Dolphins, an NCAA tournament team a year ago, even more satisfying.
Its last three wins have come over teams from the East Coast.
“Teams from the East Coast aren’t pleased that a West Coast team is stepping up and beating them,” said junior Casey Rector, who came off the bench to finish with three goals.
After both teams traded goals in the opening minutes, Oregon cruised to an 8-1 halftime lead behind the play of Waldron, who recorded two goals and two assists in the opening 30 minutes.
Four other Ducks would score in the first half, including two by All-American Jen May. By the half, Oregon had more than tripled Le Moyne’s shot attempts. On the defensive end, Oregon defenders collapsed on any penetration near the goal, where goalkeeper Anna Poponyak saw only five shots.
Oregon’s offense picked up where it left off to begin the second half, scoring three goals in the first seven minutes-including one goal apiece for both Waldron and May-to push the lead to 11-1.
Despite the ten-goal deficit and the intermittent rain, Le Moyne began to make a comeback, using an almost 13-minute scoring drought by Oregon to quickly score four straight goals of its own to make it a 13-7 game.
Two late goals by Ilsa van den Berg and Casey Rector sealed the Ducks’ win.
Defensive lapses most worried Larsen after the game.
“The defense wasn’t sharp enough for me,” said Larsen. “I’m not too concerned about the scoring drought. I’m more concerned about the whole overall play.”
Larsen, however, was pleased with how her team handled its second ranking of the program’s history, and with the play of her younger players.
“I think there are some things we certainly we need to change but education-wise, the best way to educate young players is to give them playing time,” said Larsen. “I’m pleased with the development.”
May cited the youth and inexperience of much of the second-half lineup for the breakdowns that allowed Le Moyne to creep back into the game.
“When you put a lot of people on the field you lose the fluidity of the group you start with,” said May, who quickly put the game in perspective. “A win is a win no matter how it comes,” May said.
Oregon now travels to southern California for the East-West Challenge, playing No. 9 Notre Dame on Thursday in San Diego, Calif., and Temple on Sunday in Pasadena, Calif.
“We’re excited to go down to San Diego and beat up some ranked teams again,” May said.
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