Spring Break
OSU Lacrosse quietly growing
Women's lacrosse triumphantly returning to field of play, nearly taking off Oregon last season
Sara Gwin
Issue date: 7/23/08 Section: Sports
For most sports at OSU, a Civil War win can redeem a bad season or reinforce Pac-10 dominance. For the women's lacrosse team, the University of Oregon starts off with an advantage.
UO, the only school in the Northwest with a Division-I program, is able to recruit players, particularly from the Northeast - a region where lacrosse rivals football and basketball in popularity.
"UO's club team is full of players that were recruited from high school to play for their D1 team but didn't make it, making them the most successful women's lacrosse team in the Northwest," Nicole Scheid, the 2008-09 team president, said. "This unfair advantage makes [them] extremely hard to compete against."
The Ducks have been undefeated for as long as several teammates could remember. They were not only known for being undefeated, but for absolutely crushing opposing teams.
Oregon State, despite nearly being kicked out of the league in 2005 due to an insufficient number of players, has been gaining in popularity. With the growing interest in lacrosse in the Northwest, plus the hard work in the off-season, more and more athletes are coming out and taking an active role in turning around the program.
"With that, the skill level has been drastically increasing, which amazes me every year," Scheid said.
"In just two years our club has been brought from almost being kicked out of the league to being a feared competitor on the field. [We] finished out our season strong by getting a whopping third in Regionals and almost defeating UO - the closest any team has come to defeating [them] in years."
Alumnus Stephanie Reckard admitted that playing UO was intimidating until recently.
"We have realized that we can play on their level and that we are good enough to keep the score even. Last season, we were tied with them until the last 30 seconds of the game, so they only won by one."
Part of their success is due to the year-long training the team takes part in.
UO, the only school in the Northwest with a Division-I program, is able to recruit players, particularly from the Northeast - a region where lacrosse rivals football and basketball in popularity.
"UO's club team is full of players that were recruited from high school to play for their D1 team but didn't make it, making them the most successful women's lacrosse team in the Northwest," Nicole Scheid, the 2008-09 team president, said. "This unfair advantage makes [them] extremely hard to compete against."
The Ducks have been undefeated for as long as several teammates could remember. They were not only known for being undefeated, but for absolutely crushing opposing teams.
Oregon State, despite nearly being kicked out of the league in 2005 due to an insufficient number of players, has been gaining in popularity. With the growing interest in lacrosse in the Northwest, plus the hard work in the off-season, more and more athletes are coming out and taking an active role in turning around the program.
"With that, the skill level has been drastically increasing, which amazes me every year," Scheid said.
"In just two years our club has been brought from almost being kicked out of the league to being a feared competitor on the field. [We] finished out our season strong by getting a whopping third in Regionals and almost defeating UO - the closest any team has come to defeating [them] in years."
Alumnus Stephanie Reckard admitted that playing UO was intimidating until recently.
"We have realized that we can play on their level and that we are good enough to keep the score even. Last season, we were tied with them until the last 30 seconds of the game, so they only won by one."
Part of their success is due to the year-long training the team takes part in.
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Mike Crowley
posted 7/29/08 @ 2:23 PM PST
Great to read about the sport, it was talked about when I played lacrosse for OSU back in the 80's but never got of the ground.
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