EUGENE, Ore. — Another wet and gloomy Sunday afternoon at Pape Field saw Oregon women’s lacrosse and Eastern Michigan women’s lacrosse face off in a Big Ten versus MAC late February showdown.
Both teams came into this game having lost their last one. Oregon hosted ACC and former Pac-12 opponent Cal on Thursday but fell short 14-9. In Eastern Michigan’s previous game, the Eagles travelled east to Buffalo, New York, for a matchup with Canisius University, a matchup they would lose 19-12.
An action-packed first quarter saw eight goals go in between both offenses. Eastern Michigan’s Roya Khaleeli opened the scoring for the day with a great solo run and quick shot to put the Eagles ahead, but three goals in three minutes from two juniors, Gabby Santucci and Lyla Hurley, gave the Ducks a 3-1 lead.
Santucci was undoubtedly a force for the Ducks in the first quarter. She entered this game with six goals and one assist in her four games played so far this season. She added a hat trick to that tally in the first quarter, scoring three of the five Oregon points. Hurley was able to find Santucci with some textbook passes as she cut to the cage for two of those goals. Hurley was also able to grab another goal late in the quarter.
Eastern Michigan’s top scorer going into the game, Mackenzie Blackwell, was kept quiet for most of the first quarter, but after some adjustments, she began the second by grabbing her 25th point and 18th goal of the season.
Quarter number two was a rough one for the Oregon offense. Three straight early goals from the Eagles put even more pressure on the Ducks as they desperately searched for some scoring production. Santucci and Hurley were able to find two goals, but the real story was Eastern Michigan’s work defensively. Going 6-2 on draw controls, 3-for-3 on clears, and having a plus-one turnover difference had the Eagles soaring into the locker room with a two-goal lead.
The Ducks saw their offensive struggles continue in a somewhat uneventful start to the second half, but substitute junior goalkeeper Francesca Viteritti kept the deficit from being any worse than it was. She made three important saves and shut out the Eagles in the third quarter, which allowed midfielder Anna Simmons to slot in two goals, tying the game at nine with 15 more minutes to play.
Both teams were in search of someone to take over the game in the fourth quarter, and after some costly mistakes on both sides of the field from Oregon, redshirt junior Kelsea Dague decided it would be her day. Her goal put the Eagles ahead after three minutes in the fourth. This was then followed up by a goal from Stella Burke less than two minutes later.
Eastern Michigan continued to tighten its defensive grip late into the game, creating five Duck turnovers. With 2:48 to go in regulation, Eastern Michigan’s Blackwell was given a two-minute non-returnable yellow card, giving Oregon a hope that it would tie this game in its final stages. Both fourth-quarter shots on target for the Ducks came in this final sequence. Left without a breakthrough and with desperation kicking in, Eastern Michigan was able to force a turnover, which would later be converted at the other end by Dague, sealing the game for the Eagles, 12-9.
EMU improves to 4-2 and will be on the road once again in their next game against Austin Peay, while Oregon will drop to 3-2 and try to address this losing streak quickly next Sunday against Big 12 opposition in UC Davis.