Andrew Greif | Sports Editor
Five years into its history, the story is the same every time Oregon lacrosse plays Denver: Will this be the first win over the Pioneers?
Oregon (8-3, 2-1 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation) is off to its best record through 11 games in program history, but has never beaten Denver, carrying an 0-6 record.
The teams are scheduled to play Saturday at noon, although the forecast calls for snow, prompting a Thursday morning call from Denver coach Liza Kelly to Oregon’s Jen Larsen about the possibility of moving the game to Sunday.
Saturday or Sunday, snow or shine, the Pioneers (8-4, 2-0 MPSF) are a problem Oregon has never solved. The Ducks came closest last season, losing 13-12 in Eugene when the Ducks’ chance at a length-of-the-field, game-tying goal with seven seconds left in the game didn’t make it past midfield.
Winning, Larsen says, will mean believing this game is just like any other.
“I just think it’s a game; it’s an opponent,” Larsen said. “It helps us in the overall conference rankings.”
Both teams have common results in their two common opponents this season. Then-No. 9 North Carolina beat DU 12-6 on March 9 two weeks after the Tar Heels dispatched Oregon 15-7. Both teams beat Stony Brook.
Denver’s record can be deceiving, having lost all four of its games to teams ranked in the top nine in the nation at the time they were played, including No. 1 Northwestern, No. 3 Duke, No. 7 Georgetown and North Carolina.
Game tape from those common opponents won’t be a focal point for the Ducks in preparation, Larsen said. Denver junior midfielder Ali Flury will be.
Flury scored 16 points in three games last week and was named MPSF player of the week. She leads the league with 3.17 goals per game, almost a goal more than Oregon’s leader Ilsa van den Berg, who is fifth. Denver’s Karen Morton is second in the league with 2.58 goals per game, while Megan Carver leads the conference with 1.82 assists per contest and goalie Ashley Harman allows the fewest goals.
Flury recorded seven goals and an assist in her two games against UO last season.
Film of the Pioneers has shown Flury’s ability to draw her defender into double-teams on other players, leaving her wide open for goals that could have been prevented.
“She is very sneaky and likes to bait defenders to go and double and then she’ll look for the simple draw-and-dump,” van den Berg said. “We’re changing the defense a little so they recognize who they’re on all the time.”
The Pioneers can score, but have given up nearly as many goals against, scoring 1.0 more goals than opponents this season. Often the Pioneers pull their goalie all the way to midfield to create a press on defense, which can lead to empty-net goals for teams, a strategy Oregon has prepared for this week.
Oregon’s 2.3 margin is the second-best in the league, helped by goalie Anna Poponyak’s second-best 47 percent save percentage on the season.
Oregon has thrived this season when its freshmen have been involved.
Freshmen Catherine Davidson, Jana Drummond, Jess Drummond and Bina Barrett account for four of the top six scorers on the team this season. Their green approach to the rivalry could help the Ducks; quite simply, they haven’t been a part of the losing streak yet and come in expecting a win after holding a six-game winning streak this season.
“It’s hard coming in as a freshman and actually understanding the rivalry,” sophomore Alex Breiner said, “but when you’re surrounded by your teammates who have gone through this year by year, you get their perspective and we all have the same drive.”
More than even the winning, Breiner said added momentum for the team came after the loss to Delaware, one that snapped their streak and left a sour taste for the team.
“We definitely became really used to winning and that’s why we’re really comfortable in that and that’s why it was a shock against Delaware,” she said.
Apart from an NCAA Tournament bid and an MPSF title, beating Denver is on van den Berg’s list of priorities.
“That’s the last thing I really have to check off my list before I graduated is a win against Denver,” she said.
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