The University women’s water polo club finished its season by placing 13th at the Women’s National Collegiate Club Championship last weekend at Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill.
The Ducks, the Northwest Division champions, won only two matches in the final two tournaments of the season.
Oregon entered the Collegiate Club Championships as the eighth seed in the 16-team tournament.
In the first game of the tournament on Friday, the Ducks were matched against the Southeastern Division champion Florida Gators. The Gators shot out to an early lead with five goals in the first period and never looked back. Oregon’s only reply was a single goal in the fourth period as Florida went on to a 12-1 victory.
The Ducks played in the final match on the first day of the championships against host school Northwestern. In a near repeat of the first match, Oregon watched its opponent score the first few goals. The Wildcats notched four in the first period while the Ducks went scoreless. The pace of the game slowed considerably in the second frame, and thanks to Oregon’s defense and goalie Liz Godfrey, the Wildcats were kept off the board. Unfortunately for Oregon, they also were unable to find the net, and the two teams went into halftime at 4-0.
The Ducks finally found some offense in the third period thanks to shots from Maria Turner and Karen Peront. Oregon’s comeback was short-lived because Northwestern fired back with two goals of its own to restore its four-goal advantage and end the third period 6-2. The Ducks’ one goal in the fourth period wasn’t enough, and they fell to the hosts by a final score of 8-3.
In its only match on Saturday, Oregon faced the New York champions, Cornell University. Cornell tallied the first goal of the match, but after that point the game was lopsided in favor of Oregon. The Ducks scored two goals in the first period, three in the second, five goals in the third and three in the final frame while holding Cornell to just one additional goal. Five Ducks each scored two goals, including Liz Sampson, who earned Player of the Game honors.
Oregon earned a similar result in its warm-up tournament for nationals. The Ducks took part in a tournament March 31-April 2 at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. In the 12-team field, seven had secured bids to the national championships. Oregon was defeated by Grand Valley State University 8-3 before falling to Florida by a score of 11-5. In the 11th-place game on April 2, the Ducks defeated Miami’s “B” squad by three goals, 7-4.
The Ducks will try to capture their third straight division title next season.