The University men’s lacrosse club finished its fall exhibition season Nov. 12-13, facing tough competition at a six-team tournament at California State University in Chico, Calif. The Ducks finished the weekend with a 2-1 record. Oregon now looks to use this fall’s experience to protect its high national ranking and to propel the team into winter training before the regular season begins.
The field at the Chico State Fall Tournament was split into two pools of three teams, and the Ducks were placed in the tougher of the two. The title of favorite, both in the pool and in the tournament, belonged to Sonoma State University, a team that finished as runner-up in last year’s national tournament.
“They’re a perennial top-five team,” senior goalie Nathan Cordova said. Oregon, which finished in sixth place at that same national tournament, eagerly anticipated this marquee match-up that kicked off its weekend. Playing stop-time halves instead of the usual quarters, the Ducks drew first blood when junior Julian Coffman took a pass from midfielder Matt Connors and buried the ball in the net for a 1-0 lead. Sonoma scored the next two goals only to see Oregon junior Scott Miller pick off a clearing pass and punish the Seawolves with a tying goal. The Ducks’ momentum continued when Josh Schane tallied the third score of the afternoon, helped by Connors’ second assist of the afternoon. The Seawolves then showed why they are a team to be reckoned with, as they scored the final four goals en route to a 6-3 final.
Although disappointed with the final result against Sonoma, Oregon took some positives away from its encounter.
“We mentally got over Sonoma,” coach Joe Kerwin said. “It showed we can compete.”
Kerwin was also impressed by his team’s overall speed and athleticism, which he credited to conditioning. On the other hand, Kerwin cited a lack of finished opportunities and porous transition defense as the cause of the Ducks’ downfall.
“We have time to fix all that,” Kerwin said.
Oregon returned to its winning ways for the rest of the tournament, defeating the University of Nevada at Reno 13-3 and University of California Davis 5-3, while resting many regular starters in an effort to give everyone on the roster valuable game experience. Among the newer players expected to contribute this year are freshman attacker Clay Knope and sophomore defenseman Andrew Vincent.
“Fall ball is a time to get younger players experience that they might not get in the regular season,” Cordova said.
The defeat at the hands of Sonoma State was the only blemish on Oregon’s fall season, which included two in-state tournaments, one in Bend and one at home in Eugene, where the Ducks fielded split squads once again for the purpose of widening opportunities for playing time.
The club will now retreat indoors for the winter season for intrasquad scrimmages and weight training. Some team members are enrolled in conditioning classes at the Casanova Center to increase the Ducks’ physical edge on the field.
“We were more athletic and faster (last weekend),” Kerwin said.
Oregon will have time to regroup after the holidays before the regular season begins against Stanford on Feb. 18.