On Wednesday afternoon, the lady Sagehens hosted La Verne University in the final contest of the first half of the SCIAC season. The team came away with a decisive 3-1 victory and improved to 3-3-1 in SCIAC.
The first half of play proved frustrating for the Sagehens as they outshot their opponents 12-3 but were unable to put any into the back of the net. With these offensive troubles, the teams went into halftime in a deadlocked 0-0.
Then the floodgates opened, and the Sagehens went out to a quick 2-0 lead in the first part of the half with goals from Charlotte Fisken PO ’14 and Dana Christensen PZ ’15. They remained dominant until a La Verne goal in the 82nd minute trimmed the Sagehen lead to 2-1.
“We responded to their goal by raising the intensity again and getting another one immediately. It was awesome,” Claudia Zaugg PO ’13 said. The goal Zaugg referenced was a beauty from Julia Dohner PO ’16, her first in SCIAC play.
“It felt so good to put that one away. We have been working really hard all season and it was really satisfying,” Dohner said of her inaugural goal.
Earlier in the week the Sagehens took on Redlands University for the first time this season. During the game Allie Tao PO ’14 scored her third goal of the week to give P-P a 1-0 lead early in the second half, but the Sagehens had to settle for a 1-1 overtime tie in the end. The Sagehen remained ahead in the game until late in the second half when the Bulldogs scored on a counter-attack goal past the diving body of goalkeeper Annie Wedel PO ’16.
With the score tied at the end of regulation, the teams headed into two “golden goal” overtime periods. Both overtimes were riddled with offensive opportunities, but the Sagehens were unable to put any of them away.
On the defensive side of the field the Sagehens experienced some anxiety when goalkeeper Wedel’s knees collided with a Redlands player, forcing her to come out of the game with an injury for the second contest in a row. Helena Epps PO ’16 came in once again to keep the overtime shutout and preserve the tie.
The Sagehens’ next game is at home on Saturday against cross-street rivals Claremont-Mudd-Scripps. Kickoff is at 11 a.m., and it is sure to be the must-see game of the week.