Balanced Attack Leads Ducks Past Michigan to Open 2017 Season

Saturday, February 4

Eugene, Ore.

12:00 PM

University of Oregon

1-0

Michigan

0-1

Michigan

Oregon

Balanced Attack Leads Ducks Past Michigan to Open 2017 Season

02/04/17 | Women's Lacrosse

Box Score Oregon 11, Michigan 8 Photo Gallery

JULIA TAYLOR RECORDS FIRST-CAREER HAT TRICK TO LEAD DUCKS; KATRINA DOWD EARNS FIRST-CAREER WIN AS HEAD COACH

By: Nate Krueger

EUGENE, Ore. – The Oregon women's lacrosse team got its 2017 season off to a strong start, using a balanced offensive attack to defeat Michigan, 11-8, on Saturday afternoon at Pape Field.

The win is the first for head coach Katrina Dowd and staff in their first year at the helm of the program.

How It Happened: The Ducks (1-0) came out in attack mode from the opening draw, building a 3-0 lead in the first 10 minutes. Sophomore JoJo Hesketh scored the Ducks' first goal of the year less thanthree minutes in, finding the back of the net on a free position shot. Junior Mariah Gatti scored off an assist from senior Bella Pyne with 23:04 left in the first, and Pyne made it 3-0 with an unassisted goal at the 19:43 mark.

HIGHLIGHTS | Here are all 11 of your Ducks' goals today! #GoDucks https://t.co/kDEB2ivXAY
— Oregon Lacrosse (@OregonWLAX) February 4, 2017

Michigan (0-1) responded with a goal a few minutes later to get on the board, but the Ducks ripped off three straight again to take a 6-1 lead. Gatti scored her second goal of the game on an assist from junior Cambi Cukar, sophomore Shannan Williams scored just 26 seconds later on another assist from Pyne and junior Natalie Modly found the net with 7:34 remaining in the half. The Wolverines would finish the period on a 3-1 run to cut the deficit to 7-4 at half. Sophomore Julia Taylor scored her first goal of the year at the 3:12 mark to help the Ducks hold their lead.

The Wolverines controlled the start of the second half, scoring a pair of quick goals to trim the Oregon lead to 7-6. Taylor then took back momentum for the Ducks, ripping off a pair of goals in a span of 47 seconds to earn a hat trick and put the Ducks back up by three, 9-6, with the first assisted by Williams.

After Michigan scored with 17:08 remaining to pull within two, the second goal of the day by Williams and a goal by Cukar assisted by Rachel Steinberg gave the Ducks a commanding four-point lead with less than eight minutes left. Michigan scored once with 1:59 left in the game, but it was too little, too late as the Ducks iced their first win of 2017.

Who Stood Out: Taylor recorded her first-career hat trick in a breakout performance that saw her find the back of the net on all three of her shot attempts. In just one game, Taylor has already surpassed her goal total from all of 2016 (2). Williams and Gatti each finished with a pair of scores, while Williams dished out an assist. Pyne finished with two assists and was one of seven total Ducks to find the back of the net. Senior goalie Becca Katzen was solid in the net, racking up nine saves while surrendering only eight goals.

What it Means: The Ducks grinded out a win against a tough Michigan team, and got Coach Dowd's Oregon career off to a fast start. Playing under a new staff with a tremendous offensive pedigree, the Ducks scored 11 goals on 25 total shots and were constantly looking to attack on the offensive end. The game was also the first chance for fans to see the new 90-second shot clock in action; there were no shot-clock violations, but it noticeably sped up a number of possessions for both teams.

Quotable: Head Coach Katrina Dowd
"We're really excited to start the 2017 season off with a win. It's been called the start of a new era, but for us, it's just the start of the 2017 season and we wanted to come out and compete against a good Michigan team. These guys played hard for the whole 60 minutes and I thought we did some things really well. Becca (Katzen) was a stud for us in goal with nine saves and some huge stops on a few eight-meter attempts, and on offense I thought we had good balance. Nice to start out with a win, and now we need to continue to get better as we move forward."

Notable: Cukar picked up four ground balls in addition to recording a goal and an assist … Michigan had the upper-hand in the draw controls throughout the day, winning 16 to the Ducks' five … The Ducks scored five goals on Michigan goalie Mira Shane before the Wolverines switched to Alli Kothari, who surrendered six goals in 43:19 … Pyne left the game with an injury with 12:19 remaining.

Up Next: The Ducks will open MPSF play next weekend when they welcome San Diego State to Pape Field on Sataurday (Feb. 11) at noon. The game will be streamed live on Twitter (@OregonWLAX) through Pac-12 Plus.