Oregon lacrosse kicks off its season Saturday afternoon at Papé Field. The Ducks will welcome perennial Ivy League contenders and No. 12 Dartmouth for the first game played between the two teams since March 23, 2011. The Big Green beat the Ducks 12-10 that day in Hanover, N.H.

According to the athletic department’s pregame notes, Oregon is 3-1 all-time against the Ivy League in lacrosse, a sport far more popular on the Eastern Seaboard than out West.

Nine players remain on the roster since the last time the teams met, but only junior Nikki Puszcz made a dent in the stat line the last time around, tallying one goal in the match. The Towson, Md., native is expected to have a junior year after leading the team in goals last season with 39. She’s 11th in program history in goals (55) and should crack the Top 10 or even the Top 5 at some point this season.

More from the notes:

The Ducks play 10 home games at Papé Field during the 2013 regular season, including seven straight to open up the year.  It is the first time that Oregon has opened its season at home since the 2011 campaign, when it lost to No. 20 Hofstra in overtime.  Six of Oregon’s first seven home games are non-conference games … Oregon’s first conference match is slated for March 22 against San Diego State in Eugene.

Ducks cling to Top 25 status. Well, they’ve hung in there. Despite undergoing a stretch of three straight losses to unranked opponents and enduring the loss of freshman point guard Dominic Artis, Oregon men’s basketball stayed at No. 23 in both the AP Poll and the USA Today poll, released Monday.

Since the losing streak ended with a win over Utah, the Ducks (21-5) have topped Washington and, most recently, Washington State (in overtime, no less).

No. 1 Indiana held the top spot for the third consecutive week.

Ahead on the schedule for the Ducks are tangles with California and Stanford at home later this week. Oregon will want vengeance for the Bay Area disaster that put an end to the team’s nine-game win streak.