Ducks fall short in national championship match, losing to Stanford Cardinal

The perfect ending to a historic season wasn’t meant to be for the Oregon Ducks.

Instead, the No. 2 ranked Ducks fell to the No. 1 ranked Stanford Cardinal in the championship match on Wednesday at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Az., losing 3-2.

With 5 matches on the day between the two Pac-12 rivals who were on a collision course to this point throughout the entire season, the Ducks fell behind early, going down 6 in one match, and three in two others through nine holes.

Oregon battled back on the second-nine, though, and made things close down the stretch. Briana Chacon, who was down by 2 after 10 holes, fought hard and evened the match going into the 18th hole, ultimately winning the final frame and earning the Ducks a crucial point. Just behind her, Tze-Han (Heather) Lin held a one-up lead through the turn and then put the clamps down coming in, going up by 2, and ultimately winning 3&2.

Elsewhere, a few of Oregon’s best players struggled to hold on, though. Ching-Tzu Chen went down 3 going into the turn and was unable to gain any ground on the back-nine, ultimately losing 4&3. It wasn’t much better for Hsin-Yu (Cynthia) Lu, who lost 5&3 after going down 6 in the first 9.

Despite the loss in the championship, this should by no means be viewed as a disappointment for the Ducks. With the dominant quarterfinals and semifinals wins on Tuesday, Oregon reached their first NCAA championship final in program history. They also won the first regional championship in program history this year as well.

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