No. 20 Ducks Look to Topple No. 1 UNC, Davidson

The Tar Heels return four All-ACC players.

Goalkeeper Anna Poponyak leads the conference in GAA. Photo: goducks.com

EUGENE - No. 20 Oregon (2-0, 2-0 MPSF) will face the top-ranked team in the nation in the University of North Carolina (2-0, 0-0 ACC) on Friday and Davidson on Sunday.

Scouting UNC:

The Tar Heels are coming off of a double overtime upset win over previously-ranked No. 1 Northwestern.

With the 9-8 win, the Heels vaulted into the number one position themselves, even though they did not garner the most first place votes.

In the victory, three Heels had two goals a piece and goalkeeper Kristen Hordy had 11 saves.

The Tar Heels return four All-ACC players in Hordy, Melissa McCarthy, Jenn Cook and Christina Juras. Hordy and Cook are also two-time All-Americans.

Ducks vs. UNC:

Last year’s meeting, which was to be held on the Nike Campus in Beaverton, Ore. was cancelled due to travel issues due to inclement weather on the East Coast.

In 2005, Kate Fleming tallied three goals and Jen May added two against UNC but the inexperienced Ducks fell 21-8 in their meeting with the then No. 3 ranked Tar Heels.

Scouting Davidson:

Freshman Haley Cook and junior Emily Diefendorf scored a pair of goals apiece as Davidson fell to American, 9-5.

The Wildcats have a new head coach, Betsy Economou, whose 10 years of coaching experience should provide stability within the program.

Ducks vs. Davidson:

Jen May led the team with three goals and three assists in last year’s 13-11 victory over Davidson. Five Ducks talllied at least a pair of goals in the victory.

In 2005, the Ducks scored 12 goals to open the game and never looked back, dominatining the Wildcats, 16-6. May had four goals in that game as well and Jana Bradley added three goals.

Ranked Ducks a First:

The Ducks entered the Inside Lacrosse Division I media poll for the first time in program history after their dominating performances in defeating then No. 16 Stanford on Feb. 10 and UC Davis last Sunday.

Pop(onyak) on Top:

Oregon goalkeeper Anna Poponyak currently leads the MPSF in goals allowed, having given up only eight goals in two games.

The redshirt sophomore played 36 minutes in last Sunday’s win over UC Davis before being relieved by freshman Sam Debow as the game was in hand.

As a team, the Ducks also lead the MPSF, having allowed only six goals per game thus far.

Old Hat:

Sophomore Ilsa van den Berg has scored hat tricks (three goals) in consecutive games to open the season.

The Reisterstown, Md. native is leading the team in goals and is tied for second in the MPSF in goal per game average.

As a freshman in 2006, van den Berg was second on the team in goals with 31.

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