It might not have been the exact way head coach Liza Kelly wanted to start off conference play, but it was a win nonetheless as the women’s lacrosse team defeated No. 18 Oregon 13-12 Saturday in Eugene, Ore. It was the third straight road game for the Pioneers (7-5, 1-0) and ended a two-game skid in which Denver suffered losses to Rutgers and Johns Hopkins.

The Pioneers flew out of the gate taking a 3-0 lead before the Ducks got a goal past senior goaltender Becky Childs to cut the deficit to 3-1. The teams then traded goals before Denver went into halftime with a 6-3 advantage.

DU outscored Oregon 4-2 to start the second half and muster a 10-5 lead, but the Ducks stormed back scoring four straight goals to come within one with over 13 minutes to play. The Pioneers responded with two goals, before Oregon made it a 12-10 game with just less than five minutes to play. A minute later junior Megan Carver scored the game-winner as the Ducks tallied two goals in the final 2:25, but it was too little too late.

Carver led the way for Denver with three goals and two assists in a rainy game before 296 fans. Sophomore Ali Flury added three goals and an assist, junior Karen Morton put in three goals, junior Steph Coyne dished out three assists and freshman Tulley Stapp and sophomore Lexi Sanders tallied two goals apiece. Childs made 10 saves in net en route to the Pioneers first victory over a ranked team this season. Duke, North Carolina, Georgetown and Johns Hopkins were the other ranked teams that Denver has faced this season.

Although Coyne didn’t score a goal she leads DU in points on the season with 51, scoring 20 goals and dishing 31 assists. Flury leads the team in goals with 29 on 67 shots.

The Pioneers will next be in action this Sunday when they travel to the nation’s capital to take on George Washington in a non-conference game at 10 a.m. mountain time. Denver will be at home on April 18 when they take on UC Davis in a MPSF game at 2 p.m.