They’re back and better than ever. On the afternoon of Saturday, April 13, Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (CMS) women’s lacrosse celebrated a successful senior day with a 24-1 victory over the University of Redlands, establishing a three-game winning streak in which the Athenas have scored 77 goals and only conceded eight.
After dropping a close contest to non-conference foe Colorado College on March 31, the Athenas won their next two games and came into the weekend with a 9-3 overall record and a 8-1 record in the SCIAC. Though still unranked by the Intercollegiate Women’s Lacrosse Coaches Association (IWLCA), the Athenas’ national profile is on the rise, with CMS appearing as an honorable mention on the last IWLCA post.
The Athenas came out of the gate flying with Grace Minturn CM ’26 scoring her 31st goal of the season just 33 seconds into the game. Not even 20 seconds later, Taylor Daetz CM ’25 added to the Athenas’ early lead by putting away her 13th goal of the season.
This offensive charge stunned the Bulldogs who seemed incapable of responding. The Athenas capitalized on this as Daetz scored her 14th goal of the season, increasing the Athenas lead to 3-0 after only three minutes.
The rest of the first period looked much the same and CMS’ dominance was reflected on the scoreboard. Goals from Minturn, Daetz, Cate Lewison HM ’26 and three from Amelia Ulmer CM ’26 had the Athenas’ leading 9-0 by the time the first period came to a close.
Ulmer emphasized how the team’s strong communication was critical to their success.
“I think we’ve been so successful because we are really well coached and we love each other,” Ulmer said. “I know that sounds silly, but we really do. We’re all best friends as the way that we work together on and off the field really is how we make everything happen.”
In fact, everything did keep happening for the Athenas, with the second and third periods repeating the energy of the first. CMS added five goals in the second and six in the third, increasing their lead to a seemingly impassable 20-1 margin by the start of the fourth quarter.
In the second period, Minturn opened the scoring and was quickly followed by goals from Ulmer and Julia Ryan CM ’27 shortly after. Before the period was over, a goal from Catherine Murphy CM ’24 increased the lead to 14-1.
Though only a first-year, Ryan has played a vital role in the team’s success this season with her dominance in draw control situations proving essential support to the CMS offense. On top of adding a goal and four assists on Saturday, Ryan also won 12 draw controls, more than the entirety of the Redlands team combined.
Ryan echoed Ulmer’s sentiments about her individual success stemming from a positive team atmosphere.
“I couldn’t be successful without my team,” Ryan said. “We work together on and off the field and I cannot do it without them. I’m really excited for the rest of our season and I know we’re gonna be able to keep on building off of what we already have as a team.”
Less than three minutes into the third quarter, Stella Hansot CM ’27 added her 15th goal of the season and was quickly followed by Murphy, who added her 22nd goal of the season. Before the period was over, the Athenas would score three more, courtesy of Annie Parizeau CM ’26, Sheridan Dorsey HM ’26 and Ainsley Basic CG ’24.
Head coach Lauren Uhr attributed much of the team’s offensive triumphs to a well-balanced offense.
“We have a lot of different threats,” Uhr said. “I think in this past game, around 13 players scored. And so it’s not like we have just one or two looks. Overall, we are pretty deep which helps us a lot down the stretch.”
The Athenas would strike once again in the fourth period, adding four more goals including Murphy’s third of the night and 23rd of the season. Ava Marra SC ’27 secured her first goal of the season, as well as the Athenas’ 24th and final goal of the night, with 2:37 left in the game.
CMS senior goalkeeper Kendall Chapko CM ’24 reflected on the game and her entire collegiate experience. Though disappointed to not obtain a shut-out, she said she was delighted with both the team’s performance and the outcome of senior day.
“We just have the best team possible,” Chapko said. “I think that’s what makes us play so well in big games because we really kind of play for each other and we are very unselfish. It was so much fun out there today and I’m going to miss all of this so so much. I just appreciate my teammates and the rest of the seniors and I really think this is what made my college experience so fun.”
Though the Athenas were delighted with the result, they still have their sights set on a revenge matchup against first-place Pomona-Pitzer (P-P), a Sixth Street match with major implications for the SCIAC playoffs. Both Ryan and Ulmer said they were confident that the Athenas could score a win against a program that hasn’t dropped a game to the Athenas since 2019.
“We’re really excited for Wednesday,” Ulmer said. “It’s gonna be a great game, all credit to [P-P]. They’re a great team, really well coached as well. We just have to make sure that we are having fun and pushing ourselves in practice, and I think it’ll be a really cool game.”
Uhr remains optimistic in the Athenas, believing that their recent growth puts them in a solid position.
“I think the team is really adapting to the new things that we’re throwing at them,” Uhr said. “We’ve been watching, scouting and looking at what other teams do and we are trying to figure out how to progress accordingly. As for P-P, I think it’s definitely going to be a competitive game, but I think our team has been working hard to win and hopefully, that will show on Wednesday.”
After beating Redlands, the Athena’s went on to lose the massive SCIAC matchup against P-P in an overtime 11-12 loss after holding the lead for most of the game. CMS will finish the season with games against University of Chicago (April 21), Occidental (April 24) and Chapman (April 27), before SCIAC Championships.
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