Oregon attracts good migrations.

Byline: Chris Hansen The Register-Guard

Broken down, the first-ever Oregon lacrosse roster looks something like this:

Nine of the 25 players hail from Maryland, a hot spot for the sport, while 13 are from the East Coast.

Only four players come from the Pacific Northwest - three from Oregon, one from Washington. Three are from California. All were high school teammates.

Twenty-one are true freshmen, though 23 are freshmen in terms of eligibility.

Two recently discovered they were second cousins. Two others recently discovered their brothers play lacrosse together at Virginia.

One is a fifth-year senior living a dream after playing three years on the UO club lacrosse team.

One is deaf.

What they all share, however, is a vision to make the first Division I lacrosse program in the Northwest an immediate hit on and off the field.

"There's no better group of girls to do it because we all have a lot of passion, a lot of determination, and we all love the game a lot," said freshman defender and team co-captain Jenny Browne, who hails from Sandwich, Mass. "Being able to spread it on the other side of the country is an incredible experience."

The first draw of the season will be Saturday at noon when the Ducks meet Stanford at Pape Field.

"It's so exciting to be making history," said Jen May, a freshman midfielder from Davidsonville, Md., who was also a state pole vault champion. "Oregon is a huge school on the West Coast and it's very exciting to be a part of this program. The whole town and everyone here is just ready to start. It makes us feel so awesome.

`I just walk through the mall and people come up and say, `We're so excited for your season,' or, `We can't wait for the first game.' That's cool.'

Oregon head coach Jen Larsen summed up her team as being intelligent, athletic, talented and perfectly suited to be ambassadors for the sport as it attempts to gain a foothold in the region.

"It is a special group of student-athletes," Larsen said. "They really are focused on starting this program, and they're determined to have success from the get-go."

Of course, the squad is also inexperienced and raw. With 23 freshmen, it is surely the youngest team in its conference - the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation - and probably the country.

"What we do with that is really up to our team and our players," Larsen said. "I really don't think that is going to be a major disadvantage of ours."

Larsen anticipates some growing pains with such a young team, so to lessen the learning curve, she will let the players rely more on their instincts during games.

"We're pretty much just doing the basics with everything," Larsen said. "I'm really against scripted plays because the second something doesn't go right, we have a group of freshmen that might not be able to improvise. But we've been talking to them the whole time about being creative."

The lack of veteran leadership, or even veterans for that matter, has forced this group to set its own standards and create its own traditions.

"We miss having upperclassmen, but I think we've made up for it in our unity," Browne said. "We came in knowing that Coach did a really good job of recruiting the right type of girls. We're really tough with each other on the field and then we're best friends off the field. Because of that, we've really trained each other hard and we're going to be ready."

While none of the players has any Division I experience, most were on successful high school or club programs and come to Oregon with a history of winning. They aren't viewing this season as a wash just because it is the program's first campaign.

"We have high expectations for sure," said midfielder Carrie Bateman, a freshman from Sparks, Md. `There's no way any girl on this team will think a loss is sufficient.'

That type of attitude was a pleasant surprise to some.

"I know we are going to be good, and I know that because I really trust my coach," Browne said. "But I was shocked when I got here to see just how dedicated my teammates were. In high school I had always been the one that was crazy and too passionate about lacrosse, too into it. Then I came here and there were 24 other girls who were too into it."

And committed to the process as well.

"When you ask someone to fly across the country to come to school and they do, you know there is no gray area, they're definitely in," Bateman said.

As for the final result, one player had a prediction.

"We're going to be doing awesome things and whether we win or lose, we're going to be helping the sport grow," May said. "But I have no doubt we're going to put on a good show."

CAPTION(S):

Jana Bradley (28) and her Oregon teammates practice in preparation for the program's first game Saturday against Stanford at Pape Field. Of the 25 players on the roster, 23 are freshmen and 13 are from the East Coast. "We have high expectations for sure," midfielder Carrie Bateman said. Thomas Boyd / The Register-Guard Carrie Bateman (left) and Alison Leiner are two of the nine players plucked out of Maryland by Jen Larsen.