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Even in defeat, Oregon made this year a winner
by Dan Jones | Freelance reporter |
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"I think that was huge," Coffman, the PNCLL Division-A scoring leader, said. "It created a lot of excitement with the players and I'm sure the whole national tourney. How it was set up this year, it will make high school kids want to play in the MCLA. It is a legit way to play lacrosse."
Exhausted, sore, bruised and glad to be home, the Oregon men's club lacrosse team finally landed in Portland late Sunday night having nearly conquered the tournament. In its best season yet, the team did everything but win a national championship.
The Ducks' loss to top-seeded BYU in the championship match last Saturday marked a disappointing end to a nearly perfect year. Coffman said he is now coming to terms with everything.
"I go back and forth between disappointment and not being too disappointed," Coffman said. "I never thought we would be on that championship field, but there has to be a winner and loser."
The squad's accomplishments leading up to the final leaves little doubt that the Ducks deserved to be there.
Oregon (20-3, 6-0 Pacific Northwest Collegiate Lacrosse League), seeded third in the MCLA Tournament, lost just two matches during the regular season. Before being outplayed by the Cougars and losing 16-9, the Ducks had never lost a game by more than a goal this year. They swept through the PNCLL Tournament and then climbed their way into the finals in the field of 16 teams at Nationals by beating three teams last week. Before stumbling in the battle against BYU, Oregon beat Lindenwood 13-10 in the first round, Minnesota-Duluth 10-8 in the second round and Colorado State 9-8 in the semifinals. The Ducks' success in the tournament was unprecedented - they had never made it past the second round.
Viewing Comments 1 - 2 of 2
Dan Murphy
posted 5/23/07 @ 11:52 AM PST
As a former Duck Lax team member 1983-85 I am thrilled with where the program is now!
We had a couple of strong teams in the mid-80's and I often wonder how we would stack up against some of the teams that are competing in the new MCLA leagues. (Continued…)
john cavanaugh
posted 5/23/07 @ 3:51 PM PST
As a former U of O club lacrosse player (1980-83), it's great to see how far the program has come. We drove ourselves to games, supplied all our own equipment, had a co-ed team of ~30-50% first-year players, and loved every minute of it. (Continued…)
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