Sat down with Oregon lacrosse head coach Jen Larsen yesterday for a talk about the upcoming lacrosse season. For those out of the loop, the UO program is starting its fifth year of existence, but last season gave signs of promise: A No. 12 ranking, a school-record 13 wins, and its first All-American in Jen May.
They also had a talented, and large, group of seniors to rely on who had played at Oregon since the program’s inception.
This year six seniors are back, but make way for 16 freshmen. Larsen said this year dealing with all the freshmen hasn’t been like it was four years ago, when she not only had freshmen to train, but a program to market and a city to get used to its program.
“It’s nice because of the personalities we have. Going into the fall we didn’t know what he personality of our team was going to be because half of it was new. It’s been really refreshing to have that new energy.”
Oregon begins its season this Saturday, Feb. 7, at Papé Field against No. 19 Stanford. The Cardinal own a 5-1 record against Oregon, and this is the fifth straight year the Ducks have opened up against the team. 2010 will be different, Larsen said, because the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation has agreed to move all league games to April.
The Ducks will bring back several key members, including Ilsa van den Berg on offense, where she set numerous offensive school records last year including points and goals. Larsen said she has a better supporting cast around her this year than even last year, and thought she’d have no problem becoming the main target of other teams.
