Last Thursday, following practice in the unseasonably warm January weather,
Kate Fleming shot out of the Casanova
Center and darted to the athletic building’s parking lot.
Waiting in an old, small, maroon sedan were the freshman midfielder’s teammates. Six of them. Fleming squeezed in with little room to spare, and the girls sped off.
Heading into a season full of unknowns, one thing is for certain: Oregon’s first-ever women’s lacrosse team is extremely tight-knit.
Head coach Jen Larsen, previously an assistant at traditional power North
Carolina, will lead the first Division I
women’s lacrosse team in the Pacific
Northwest. Larsen, who starred at Virginia
in lacrosse and field hockey in the mid-90s,
isn’t bashful about what she expects from her young squad.
“I want success from the very beginning,” the first-year coach said. “But success to me is academics, in the community and everything they’re doing in life.”
The Ducks, who started spring practice Tuesday, kick off their inaugural season
Feb. 12 at 12 p.m. at Papé Field with a league match against Stanford.
“We’re all focused,” Fleming said. “When we’re dying in sprints we say, ‘this is
for Stanford.’”
The Ducks will compete in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation, a league that includes California, UC Davis, St. Mary’s of Calif., Denver and Stanford.
Stanford, who finished second in the MPSF last year behind Cal, is just the first of several formidable foes for the Ducks. Oregon will battle North Carolina, Ohio and No. 3 Northwestern — all on the road.
“I want our team to learn that’s where we want to be,” Larsen said. “You’re not
going to learn how to be there by sitting in the stands.”
Like their coach, Larsen’s players welcome the challenge. “No one expects anything from us,” Fleming said. “We’ve got nothing to lose.”
“We’ll come out with everything we’ve got,” senior goaltender Louisa Dorsch added.
The season, no matter what the win and loss record reads, is a true source of pride
for Dorsch. The Hagerstown, Md., native helped resurrect a club sports team
that “wasn’t the best” when she arrived
at Oregon in 2000 and led the Ducks to a
national tournament birth in 2004. Dorsch was one of a few members of the club team invited to play on Jensen’s varsity squad, capping what the senior called “a perfect lacrosse career.”
On the field, Dorsch will battle freshman
Allison O’Brien for the starting goalie position, with the edge slightly in Dorsch’s favor because of her previous club experience and maturity.
Offensively, look for junior Emma Thorborg, another Oregon Lacrosse club veteran, to provide a spark for the Ducks.
“(Emma)’s setting a pace, a tempo, in the offensive motion,” said Larsen about
the Portland native’s practice habits.
“It’s been our biggest asset for our offense right now.”
A pair of freshmen midfielders have also caught the eye of their coach.
“I’ve really been impressed with the consistent play of Jen May and Carrie Bateman,” Larsen said. “(They) just have great lacrosse knowledge. When we need a spark, we
usually get it from one of them.”
On defense, freshmen Cara Mead and Katie Tarlow look to see significant playing time.
“Cara’s doing a great job on the defensive end,” Larsen said. “She’s solid.
“(Tarlow) is improving everyday. She’s energetic, tenacious and just doing a great job.”
Larsen, assisted by Robert Bray, Jr. and Beth Ames, sees herself responsible for not only leading a new program on the field, but also for introducing the traditionally East Coast sport to the Northwest.
“One of my goals is to educate fans … and attract youth to our sport and get them
as much teaching as I can,” Larsen said. “I want to get knowledge of our sport out to
all ages.”
Case in point: Larsen and her squad held a free clinic for future lacrosse stars at the Moshofsky Sports Center this weekend.
Larsen is adamant about laying down a firm foundation for the Oregon program to grow.
“We expect you to be better than you were yesterday and be willing to learn more tomorrow,” Larsen said. “I hope that’s the foundation we can continue to move forward on.”
The young Ducks will attempt to overcome a major obstacle that any new program faces — a lack of upperclassmen leadership.
Without an experienced class of juniors or seniors to take the team by its reins, Larsen expects anyone and everyone to step up when the time comes.
“Our strength is going to be that it’s going to be someone different all the time,” Larsen said. “I’ve been impressed with a lot of people’s ability to lead and our group’s willingness to follow.”
“We all lead by example,” Dorsch said. “People step into the leadership role when needed.”
Despite their lack of experience, the Ducks are confident heading into their season opener, having had the benefit of playing together in the fall practice season.
“We realized we were a
lot stronger than we thought,” Dorsch said.
More helpful than the time the team has been able to play together is the bond of being a part of something special — the chance to help build a program from scratch.
When Larsen signed her first 17 athletes in November 2003, 14 of the new Ducks flew from all over the country to their own meet-and-greet at defender Liora Lobel’s home in Baltimore. The next February, Eugene hosted a U.S. Lacrosse clinic, and another 14 girls flew to Oregon to mingle with their future teammates. By the time practice started, the Ducks were well-acquainted and ready to hit the field running.
Once in Eugene, the team has continued to grow close. By Jensen’s estimate, more than two-thirds of the team has taken a sign language class since arriving on campus
to better communicate with freshman defenseman Ashley Beghtel, who has been hearing impaired since birth.
“They understand every footstep they take is going to impact the program’s direction,” Larsen said. “They’re a special group, and they have a bond … no one can take. They’re the first.”
Beau Eastes is a freelance reporter for the Daily Emerald
