April 30, 2014 by in News with 5 comments
As the Regionals dominos fall, the outline of this year’s College Championships is beginning to take shape. Before Northwest Regionals – which will finalize six of this year’s Nationals attendees – even begins, the picture has changed for one team: Oregon Fugue.
Bethany Kaylor, one of the stars of the top ranked team in the nation, will miss the rest of the postseason with a foot injury. The junior suffered the injury prior to Cascadia Conference Championships. Oregon would go on to lose in the semifinals and finish 2nd.
“Beth is a great player, teammate, and friend,” the Fugue captains wrote to Ultiworld. “We are all very sad this happened.”
Kaylor has been one of the most valuable members of Fugue for each of the three seasons she’s played with them. Her resume includes Northwest 2nd Team Freshman of the Year ‘12 and 1st Team All Region ’13; at last year’s Championships, she was second on Oregon in assists (t-10th overall) while adding 10 goals.
Not only is she a versatile and forceful offensive weapon, but she’s one of Oregon’s most imposing defenders. Kaylor is a natural athlete, operating with efficient footwork and frustrating defensive intensity.
The situation is particularly unfortunate, as Kaylor is a Cincinnati native, but won’t be able to play at Nationals in front of a hometown crowd.
While the injury is expected to impact Oregon, it is unclear to what magnitude. The team is absolutely stacked with talent and athleticism, but Kaylor is truly elite. Northwest Regionals will be our first hint, but with six bids up for grabs, cagey coach Lou Burruss may elect to keep some tactical secrets from opponents Fugue is likely to see at Nationals.