The Pomona-Pitzer (P-P) women’s soccer team earned a historic 2-0 win against Puget Sound in the second round of the NCAA Division III Tournament on Sunday, Nov. 16, sending the Sagehens to the round of 16 for the first time since 2019. P-P, who finished the regular season with a record of 16-1-3, toppled Puget Sound, who finished 14-3-5 and is known for its strong postseason track record, making this victory especially significant.
Goalkeeper Patricia DePalma PO ’27 set the tone early with key saves in the opening minutes, with forwards Imogen Roy Jenkyn PO ’28 and Hannah Hong PO ’26 making goal-line clearances in the fourth and 70th minutes, respectively.
Defender Vivian Rojas Collins PO ’27 put the Sagehens ahead 1-0 with a free-kick goal in the ninth minute. P-P controlled the match throughout, with a strong defense that limited Puget Sound’s opportunities while creating consistent pressure on offense. In the 83rd minute, midfielder Sabina Peterson Rajalingam PO ’29 added a second goal to secure the victory.
In the back, goalkeepers DePalma and Hadley Johnson PO ’26 shared the halves between the posts and held steady to secure a clean sheet. Together, they combined for three saves across the game.
Given the team’s early exits in past iterations of the tournament, Rajalingam was shocked but grateful after the win.
“I feel so excited, I have no words, honestly,” Rajalingam said. “I know this team has had a hard time making it out of the second round the past few years. So the win and to be able to play [more] means so much.”
Rajalingam shared insight into what made the Sagehens successful in the second round.
“The first and second goals were definitely highlights that I will remember, especially the feeling of relief afterwards,” Rajalingam said. “And we know that Puget Sound was really good at taking corners, and they’ve scored off of [Claremont-Mudd-Scripps] (CMS) from a corner, so the save was just amazing to see.”
For Rajalingam, perseverance is what the team focused on to see the hard-earned victory. The team’s composure and chemistry allowed the players to click on successful plays, giving them the edge for a dominant win.
Midfielder Ava Watanabe PO ’27 described how the team’s energy was the cherry on top of the chemistry that brought them a winning performance.
“We did a lot of work, and talked about the fact that now that we’re in the postseason, [meaning] we need to win every single game,” Watanabe said. “At the end of the day, we’ve worked hard to get here, it’s really fun and exciting.”
Given that the team had been eliminated in the first weekend of the NCAA tournament for the past four years, reaching the round of 16 is uncharted territory for most of the players. However, Watanabe claims that the uncertainty only bolsters the team’s collective mindset.
“I’m so excited [that] we’re going to Virginia,” Watanabe said. “We’ve never played these teams before. It’s all new, exciting and just a great opportunity. We haven’t had this for a few years, so not knowing what’s going to happen, but being ready for whatever is going to come is exciting.”
According to Rajalingam, approaching each game in incremental steps and focusing on what the team can control helps counteract the looming end of the season.
“We always say before a game, this is our opportunity to keep playing and that we have to win this to keep going,” Rajalingam said. “So, we’re not even looking at anything else, everything is about this game and the 90-minute period and focusing on the next thing I could do and making sure that everything was in our control.”
With such high stakes on the line in every game, it also means a chance for the Sagehens’ class of 2026 to play on the field one last time. Both Hong, Offensive Player of the Year, and Johnson recently received All-SCIAC honors as seniors to cap off their season. The two, among the six in the graduating class, will enter the weekend with everything to play for.
Even for juniors like Watanabe, they are looking to make the most of everything left of this season.
“I hope we win, but I also hope that whatever the outcome is, we leave it all on the field,” Watanabe said. “I think we just need to play our hardest and what happens, happens, and then we’ll go from there.”
With the decisive victory over Puget Sound, P-P booked a place in the round of 16 of the tournament, where they will play the Washington and Lee Tridents in Lexington, Virginia. They are no easy matchup, however, as they boast an 18-2-2 record, with an undefeated season in their conference. The Sagehens will enter the second weekend of the tournament with their game on Nov. 22, and will look to recreate history from the other side of the country.
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