The Pomona-Pitzer women’s lacrosse team picked up its first two wins of the season in a pair of hard-fought comebacks over conference rivals Claremont-Mudd-Scripps and Occidental College.
“These wins are only the beginning of showing the real potential of P-P lax,” Jana London PZ ’14 said. “[They] exemplify the growth of this program.”
The Sagehens came out flat against cross-street rivals CMS and allowed three goals on free-position shots en route to trailing 6-1 at halftime, with a goal from Kaitlin Jones PZ ’14 as the lone bright spot. The Athenas had a clear edge in just about every facet of the game, and the Sagehens were hampered by committing 18 fouls.
The second half was a completely different story, as the Sagehens scored five straight, including two by Emma Molloy PZ ’13, to even the game up at six goals apiece with 17 minutes left. CMS’s Madi Shove SC ’13 won a draw control and scored, but Logan Galansky PO ’14 answered less than a minute later. The Sagehens finally took a lead when Katie Savino PO ’16 scored off a Jones feed, but CMS equalized again. Savino, playing against her twin sister on the CMS squad, showed her stripes on the go-ahead goal. When Aubrey Douglass PZ ’16 scored with 3:35 left, it looked like the Sagehens had pulled it out, but CMS won possession with under a minute to play and scored with 36 seconds left to tie it up, 9-9.
The first overtime period was largely uneventful, with Pomona-Pitzer recording the only shot. In the second overtime period, the Sagehens were dealt a blow when Jana London PZ ’14 was given a two-minute penalty, but the Athenas turned it over and Galansky drew a foul and buried the resulting free-position shot. The Sagehens managed to kill the rest of the penalty, and London broke free to add a final goal as time ran out.
Galansky led the Sagehens with three goals, and Casey Leek PZ ’13 came up big in goal with 10 saves. The Sagehens dominated draw controls in the second half and overtime, winning 10 in 13 opportunities.
P-P also took on the Occidental Tigers over the weekend before their battle with CMS. Occidental opened the scoring less than a minute into the game, but the Sagehens rebounded with four straight goals. The Tigers then closed out the half on a 5-0 run to take a 6-4 lead into halftime.
The Sagehens regrouped and stormed back after the half. London scored twice in a 20-second span to tie the game at six apiece, and after Occidental responded with a pair of its own, Ally McLaughlin PO ’16 and London evened it up again. A minute later, Douglass scored on a free position shot, and the Sagehens never trailed again.
Still, Occidental kept threatening, scoring three goals in a row to narrow the Sagehens’ lead to 13-12 with four minutes left. London shut the door on the Tigers with her sixth and seventh goals of the half, and the Sagehens picked up a 15-12 victory.
Leek had 10 saves en route to picking up the win, and Douglass led all players with three assists. Galansky and McLaughlin both added two goals.
“With eight new freshmen, the Oxy game was the first time the team clicked,” London said. “We were connecting passes and working together as a unit.”
The Sagehens will be back in action on Saturday when they host conference opponent Whittier College.