Photo by: Andrew Fielding
The DU women’s lacrosse team defeated Oregon in its final regular season game, winning 14-9 at Peter Barton Lacrosse Stadium last Saturday, earning a No. 2 seed in its upcoming conference tournament.
The postseason seemed to be a long shot following a 1-6 start to the season; however, DU has rallied in the past three weeks, winning its last four games, all against conference opponents.
Thanks to the streak, the Pioneers were able to clinch the No. 2 seed in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation tournament, which will be hosted by St. Mary’s University in Moraga, Cali. this upcoming weekend.
The tournament begins on Friday at 3 p.m., when the Pioneers will take on the Ducks once again, less than a week after handling Oregon on their home field.
“From top to bottom, freshmen all the way to seniors, everyone had their best games,” said senior Tulley Stapp.
Denver was led by sophomore Kara Secora, who finished with seven points off of five goals and two assists.
Despite a huge individual effort from Secora, seven different Pioneers tallied points, including Stapp, who finished with four points (three goals, one assist) in her last home game.
Senior goalie Lauren Benner started the game, recorded four saves and received the win.
In addition to Stapp and Benner, fellow seniors Carrie Gamper, Karin Hart and Kelsey McDowell participated in their last home game at Peter Barton Lacrosse Stadium.
Going into Saturday’s game, it had already been determined that DU and Oregon would be playing in the first round of the MPSF tournament, but all that was left to be determined was which team would wear their home jerseys as the No. 2 seed was on the line.
Denver coach Liza Kelly wasn’t afraid of showing her team’s strategy, despite the fact that it will match up with Oregon again on Friday.
“We really went into this game trying not to change anything,” Kelly said. “This is a rough draft. [We can] see what we have that works and what doesn’t work.”
She noted that the team did show multiple offensive and defensive looks.
This is the first year of a new tournament format for the MPSF. Last year DU had the No. 1 seed, but lost to Stanford in double overtime in the championship game.
As for Oregon, the Ducks were the No. 4 seed, but lost in quarterfinals. This year only the top four teams qualify for the postseason, rather than the entire seven-team league.
