■ Women's lacrosse
Oregon’s Kate
Fleming (33)
and the rest of
the Ducks squad
will host UC
Davis at 1 p.m.
Sunday at Pape
Field. The Ducks
will be looking
for the first win in
the program's
short history.
Erik R. Bishoff I Photographer
Ducks look to bounce back
from 0-3 start versus Denver
BYBEAUEASTES
DAILY EMERALD FREELANCE REPORTER
Heading into Sunday’s home
game, the Oregon women’s lacrosse
team faces UC Davis, a team in
similar circumstances.
The Aggies have only four upper
classmen on their roster, and the
Ducks have two. The UC Davis
lacrosse team is playing in its second
season in the Mountain Pacific
Sports Federation, Oregon is playing
in its first. Finally, both squads
are led by a former Virginia
All-American, UC Davis by head
coach Elaine Jones and Oregon by
head coach Jen Larsen.
“We do have similar styles,”
Jones said about her fellow
alumna’s program. “We’re both
young teams transitioning.”
The Ducks (0-3 overall, 0-2 MPSF)
play the visiting Aggies (1-1, 1-1)
following Oregon’s first-ever road
trip. The Ducks blew a halftime lead
in a 17-12 loss to host Denver
and were overwhelmed by No. 3
Northwestern, 21-2.
Larsen, who has loaded her
schedule with lacrosse power
houses, said that playing the highly
ranked Wildcats was beneficial, be
cause it showed her athletes what an
elite-level program looked like.
“We saw excellence from their pro
gram,” Larsen said.
The Aggies, while not quite on
the same level as Northwestern,
present a formidable foe. Jones’
squad, which went 12-5 and fin
ished third in the MPSF last year,
rebounded from an 11-4 season
opening home loss to Stanford to
defeat Saint Mary’s, 10-5, on the
road Tuesday. Despite losing three
All-Americans who accounted for
92 goals, UC Davis returns plenty of
offensive fire power. Sophomore
Katie McMahon led the MPSF and
was seventh in the nation last year
with a school-record 66 scores.
“Katie is ... a pivotal player on our
offense,” Jones said. “She’ll get her
goals this year because she’s a
one-on-one player. ”
On defense the Aggies return sen
ior Kristen Braasch at goalkeeper.
The Oakland, Calif., native broke the
school saves record last year with 170
stops in the Aggies’ cage.
For the Ducks, freshman Jana
Bradley is expected to lead the of
fense. The attacker from Encinitas,
Calif., leads Oregon with seven goals,
including a brilliant five-goal
performance against Denver.
“ (Bradley) is really coming into her
own,” Larsen said. “She’s bringing
more attitude.”
Oregon midfielders Jen May and
Theresa Waldron each have three
goals on the season and should
contribute as well.
At goalkeeper, senior Louisa
Dorsch and freshman Allison
O’Brien may split time. Larsen, who
said the goalie situation is assessed
on a “week to week” basis, played
O’Brien the entire second half of the
Northwestern loss.
According to the Ducks’ first-year
coach, Oregon’s success doesn’t
hinge so much on reacting to whom
they’re playing, but the skills and
lacrosse instincts that she and her
staff are instilling in her squad.
“We really need to focus on us,”
Larsen said. “It’s what we present.”
Oregon and UC Davis will face off
at 1 p.m. Sunday at Pape Field.
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