EUGENE, Ore. – A matchup of high-powered offense and stingy defensive play between the Jacksonville University women's lacrosse team and Oregon played out in a back-and-forth battle that featured four ties in the score, though the host Ducks managed to hold off the Dolphins, 15-12, Friday evening at Pape Field.

"We started slow all the way around," stated head coach Mindy McCord. "We gave up some goals where we were out of position, played well midway through the game, and struggled again after taking the lead."

Powered by hat tricks from Lillie Miller and Kasey Stevens, Jacksonville (1-1) mounted a comeback in the final 15 minutes of the opening half to suppress the Ducks' early 5-1 advantage. After finding her first goal of the game at 21:54, Miller buried her second with 16:52 showing to spark the Dolphins' rally.

Back-to-back free-position goals from Stevens (11:49) and McKenna Rushford (10:53) kept the pressure on the hosts before Jacksonville knotted the game at 6-6 behind tallies from Lauren Phillips (6:24) and Emma Wisdom (4:36) with less than five minutes before halftime.

Oregon (2-2) managed the final goal of the half with 1:11 showing to take a meager 7-6 lead into the locker room.

With three of the first four goals in the second half, Jacksonville did not waste any time putting the ball in the back of the net; Erin McGuire finished a helper from Julia Kolderman just 46 seconds in to tie the game for the second time, at 7-7.

Though Oregon managed to find an answer in the form of an Emily Munro goal with 26:41 on the clock, Miller completed her hat trick just over a minute later at 25:30, before Kolderman converted an eight-meter shot to lift the Dolphins 9-8, with 23:58 to play.

A five-goal surge allowed the Ducks to regain the lead, 13-9, with 15:37 left, and the Dolphins seemed to find its mojo once more behind goals from Stevens (13:04) and Phillips (11:38) to bring JU within two, 13-11. Oregon knocked in two just 44 seconds apart, but the Dolphins never relented as Stevens completed her hat trick with 6:22 to go.

The teams battled in a defensive deadlock as time wound down and, despite being peppered with 38 shots by the Dolphins, the Ducks managed to hold on.

The decisive factor came between the pipes, as Oregon goalie Rachel Hall turned back quality shots time and again throughout the game to finish with 13 saves; the Dolphins outshot the Ducks, 38-28.

Added McCord, "Our defense played well at times and was strong on free positions. We had a great scout but did not shoot the report. We shot to [Hall's] strengths and she made the saves needed to win."

However, another solid performance in the net from freshman Dolphin goalie Dayna Martinetto kept the Dolphins within reach as she directed JU's defense with a pair of ground balls and all four of Jacksonville's saves in the effort.

Rushford finished the day with a team-high five draw controls, while Stevens picked up three ground balls.

The Dolphins head south to Southern California for a rematch of the 2017 NCAA Tournament First Round game with the Trojans on Sunday, Feb. 24 at 3 p.m. EST.