The nerves that built up in our stomach as we saw the crowd growing on the side-lines rapidly turned into adrenaline, which fuelled a high intensity game from start to finish with great play from both teams. Cambridge Women's 2nds lacrosse varsity 2020 brought along an overwhelming wave of joy, but also relief. Despite looking like they had started a comeback, unfortunately time was not on their side, and the game ended with Oxford winning the 104th Varsity Match 11-8.Īfter weeks and weeks of intense training and psyching ourselves up throughout the entire season for this highly anticipated event, the realisation on the final blow of the whistle that our team secured the win for this year's Oxford vs. This was something that Lottie Hoskin took upon herself by coming out with a crucial interception in the last minutes to give Oxford back possession. Oxford once again gained possession off the draw, however some strong Cambridge defence forced a turnover, and it was up to the Oxford defence to hold the attack out until the end of the game. Although an established lead, this did not faze Cambridge who answered the three Oxford goals by clawing back 2 of their own, and bringing the score to 11-8 with only a few minutes to go. This advantage was apparent as the dark blues extended their lead to 11-6 with 3 consecutive goals, one notably being an amazing interception by Katie Rouse from the Cambridge goalie’s clear. This initial possession gave Oxford a huge advantage as they were attacking off each draw. Following on from the third quarter, Oxford controlled the draws winning the majority. However Cambridge answered this with goals of their own, and the third quarter ended 8-6 to Oxford.Īgain Oxford started this period in the favoured position with a 2 goal lead. For the remainder of this quarter Oxford dominated the draw controls and played some settled and spaced attack, as well as causing turnovers in the defensive end. Oxford won the first draw of the third quarter and used a set attacking play to convert this possession into a goal, and marginally extend their lead to 5-3. Both teams came out fighting off the back of motivational team talks from their respective coaches and captains. With a decisive goal scored by Bea Webber, Oxford pulled ahead and finished the half 4-3 up.Īlthough Oxford went into the second half with a slight lead, a one goal difference is nothing in lacrosse, so the game was far from decided. Oxford draw control in the quarter was much improved and allowed them to have a lot more possession, and were able to equalise to 3-3.
It was clear draw control would be very important in this game, with some fast players on both sides. Cambridge are given a yellow card after a push (a foul in lacrosse) but an excellent interception by Cambridge captain Sophie Tambyln means Oxford are not able to capitalise on being a player up. This was a very important point in the game for Oxford as they could feel their attack playing more confidently and becoming more threatening. After some controlled attack from Oxford, making the most of the possession they had missed in the first quarter, a goal was scored by Ellie Thompson. In fact, Oxford won the first draw of the 2nd quarter and Bea Webber transitioned the ball into Oxford attack. A motivational team talk from Alex Drewe left the team confident that they could pull back from this and get themselves back in the game. Some exceptional saves from Maddy Sketchley (Oxford), left the score at 3-0 after the first 15 minutes.Īt the first quarter time Oxford knew they could not afford to let the game continue in this way. Oxford weren’t able to keep enough possession in the first quarter and Cambridge were putting Oxford defence under a lot of pressure. Unfazed by this, Oxford player Cat Tiplady was able to slow her down and control her speed, to eventually win a turnover for Oxford. Oxford were struggling to win draw control, and this was being capitalised upon by Cambridge player Erica Wallace who made some strong fast breaks from the draw. The defence on both sides worked hard to put pressure on the attackers and there were several transitions up and down the field, before Cambridge finally scored the first goal after 3 minutes. Going into the Varsity match, however, Oxford could not afford to be complacent and knew it would be a very competitive match. The teams had faced each other twice already, with Oxford winning both the previous BUCS matches. Varsity is always one of the most important matches of the season for both teams, and so Oxford and Cambridge had been training hard in preparation.
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