As the PNCLL championship was still fresh in its mind, Oregon men’s club lacrosse (6-2, 7-6) lost 12-9 at the hands of Oregon State (7-1, 1-4) yesterday afternoon in Lake Oswego, Oregon.
The contest was the first time the teams played since the Beavers denied the Ducks of their fourth-straight league title in a 10-9 championship thriller last season. Sitting at 6-1, both squads entered the game looking to secure the second seed before playing each other in the PNCLL playoffs next weekend.
“This was a good little test for us to see where we’re at,” said Oregon head coach Justin Eckenroad. “I feel like we’re putting our pieces into place and we’ll be ready for next week.”
Oregon State’s Kevin Cathcart scored his team’s first three goals as the Beavers jumped out to an early 3-1 lead. Cathcart also scored three of the Beavers’ final four goals to put away what had been an extremely close contest throughout.
“He’s just a really big body,” Eckenroad said. “It’s hard to keep your hands on them when they’re that big.”
Oregon initially made the necessary adjustments to contain Cathcart, which allowed the Ducks to take a 4-3 lead early in the second quarter. However, a 4-1 run by Oregon State gave the Beavers a 7-5 lead at halftime.
“They did some different defensive formations and techniques that forced us to move the ball to other people,” Oregon State head coach Chad Stelling said of Oregon’s response to Cathcart’s run. “We had to find ways to relieve that pressure.”
While the Ducks limited Cathcart to one goal in the second and third quarters, the freshman proved that he and the Beavers were too much to handle.
“I think we just wanted it more,” Cathcart said. “They beat us in the Civil War so many times. I think that was our biggest advantage.”
Though Oregon State may have had more motivation to win on Saturday, both teams played with a playoff-like intensity. With 10:57 remaining in the game, a fight between two players on the field cleared the benches and resulted in unsportsmanlike conduct penalties for each side. Oregon totaled five penalties, all in the fourth quarter, while the Beavers accumulated four.
“Everyone knew it was going to happen,” Cathcart said. “I guess no one really wanted it to happen but it’s the Civil War. It’s not that civil.”
In order to turn the tide of the war next weekend, Oregon will need to adjust quickly to what it learned on Saturday.
“It’s all just the little small things: hustle a little more, defense, picking up the ground balls that are at our feet,” Eckenroad said.
Oregon will look to win a much bigger battle over Oregon State in the first round of the PNCLL playoffs next Saturday in Washington.
This story was contributed by freelance reporter Jack Heffernan.