GRESHAM, Ore. — Anna Neufeld (So., Merced, Calif.) and Katie Hansen (Sr., Orange County, Calif.) both scored five goals to share Player of the Game honors as the Northwest Division runner-up/No. 19-ranked Ducks of Oregon built a 9-3 lead by halftime to notch a 15-7 victory over Texas Division Champion/No. 18 Texas A&M University in the final consolation game on Day One of the 2018 Women’s National Collegiate Club Championship at Mt. Hood Community College.
Due to the win, Oregon advances to meet New York Division Champion Cornell University – which defeated Atlantic Division Champion/No. 15 Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University (Virginia Tech) by a 9-7 score in an earlier consolation game – at 1:40 p.m. Pacific/4:40 p.m. Eastern on Saturday, May 5. The victor of the Oregon-Cornell game earns a spot in the tournament’s Ninth Place game on Sunday, May 6, while the loser will play for 11th Place.
The loss drops Texas A&M into a 13th/15th place game at 8:40 p.m. Eastern/11:40 p.m. Eastern on Saturday, May 5, against Virginia Tech. The winner of the Texas A&M-vs.-Virginia Tech game will tie for 13th place in the final 16-team tournament standings, while the loser will tie for 15th Place.
Down by counts of 1-0 and 2-1 early in the first quarter, the Ducks grabbed the lead for good as Sammie Garcia (So., Costa Mesa, Calif.) pulled her team even at two-all via a man-up score with 4:00 remaining before Neufeld (3:33) and Hansen (2:30) buried feeds to push Oregon out in front to stay at 4-2.
Julia Johnson (So., Woodlands, Texas) chopped the margin down to 4-3 by converting on a six-on-five bid with 50 seconds remaining in the first quarter. However, Hansen permitted Oregon to exit the first seven minutes of action with a two-goal lead as she completed a hat-trick with a laser at the two seconds mark to push the Ducks out in front at 5-3.
Oregon insulated its lead in the second quarter as Neufeld finished off a man-up chance (5:21) prior to Garcia (4:10, 2:45) and Miranda Moore (Jr., Palos Verdes, Calif.) (1:27) combining for a trio of even-strength scores to provide the Ducks a 9-3 lead by intermission.
Shannon Reid (Fr., Los Altos, Calif.) capped off a 6-0 spurt by the Northwest Division runner-ups by tickling the twine at the 6:15 mark of the third quarter to widen the gap to 10-3. Johnson terminated Oregon’s scoring outburst by lining in a five-meter penalty shot with 5:39 on the clock to close within 10-4. However, the teams traded goals over the remainder of the quarter with Neufeld (1:45) and Johnson (1;28) sticking in even-strength strikes 17 seconds apart to set the scoreboard at 11-5 entering the final seven minutes of action.
On the tail of an opening heave by Johnson 33 seconds (6:27) into the fourth quarter to move the Aggies within five at 11-6, Oregon put any doubts about the eventual outcome to rest led by Neufeld and Hansen.
Neufeld responded to Johnson’s natural goal with one of her own at 6:04 prior to swishing a man-up opportunity at 3:53 to make the score 13-6. Hansen inflicted the rest of the damage in a 4-0 run as she torched the cage for tallies at 2:53 and 2;20 to help the Ducks quack out to a 15-6 advantage on the scoreboard.
Alyssa Koerber (So., League City, Texas), who opened the game’s scoring to provide Texas A&M a 1-0 lead 17 seconds into the game, provided a bookend to the game by tossing in the final strike with seven ticks left on the clock for the 15-7 final score.
For Oregon, Garcia posted a hat-trick to join Neufeld and Hansen in racking up multi-goal games. Moore and Reid each found the back of the cage once, while goalie Corinn Canfield (So., Davenport, Calif.) stopped seven shots to claim the win from between the pipes.
Texas A&M received five goals by Johnson to accompany a pair by Koerber. Goalie Rylan Scott (Fr., Santa Barbara, Calif.) took the loss with four saves and nine goals allowed in first half prior to Emily Kincaid (Fr., League City, Texas) coming in to notch four saves with six goals allowed in the second half.
| 1st Q | 2nd Q | 3rd Q | 4th Q | – | FINAL | |
| No. 19 University of Oregon | 5 | 4 | 2 | 4 | – | 15 |
| No. 18 Texas A&M University | 3 | 0 | 2 | 2 | – | 7 |
| Texas A&M Goals: | Julia Johnson (5); Alyssa Koerber (2) |
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| Oregon Goals: | Anna Neufeld (5); Katie Hansen (5); Sammie Garcia (3); Miranda Moore; Shannon Reid | |||||
| Saves: | Texas A&M – Rylan Scott (4, 14 minutes), Emily Kincaid (4, 14 minutes) ; Oregon – Corinn Canfield (7) | |||||
| Exclusions: | Texas A&M – 4 ; Oregon – 6 | |||||
| Advantage Opportunities: | Texas A&M – 3-for-6 ; Oregon – 3-for-4 | |||||
| Sprints: | Texas A&M – 3-for-4 (1st, 2nd, 4th) ; Oregon – 1-for-4 (3rd) | |||||
| Cards/Misconducts: | None | |||||
| Officials: | Marvel Shoen, Julie Snyder | |||||
Texas A&M University’s Hannah Kapfer (#8) tried to elude the University of Oregon’s Isabella Dickeron (#13)
University of Oregon’s Katie Hansen (#12) drives towards Texas A&M Univeristy’s Christina Lewandowski (#4)
Texas A&M University’s Chelsea Bulseco (#5) lobs a shot over the University of Oregon’s Anne Clingon (#5)
