The Pomona-Pitzer women’s lacrosse team dropped a heartbreaker to cross-street rival Claremont-Mudd-Scripps on Wednesday night. A free position shot by Christina Sutherland CM ’15 on a disputed call in the last minute of the game led to the Athena victory.
P-P was trying to build on its double overtime win over the Athenas earlier in the year, the first in program history. Adding even more importance to the game, a win would have clinched at least the fourth seed in the SCIAC for the Hens. Unfortunately for P-P, however, they came up just short.
“It was very exciting game; the two teams are a great match-up,” said Jana London PO ‘13, whose four goals in the game give her a league leading 57 on the season. “We all worked hard to the last whistle, and that’s what’s important.
Audrey Douglass PZ ’16 opened the scoring three minutes into the game with a free position goal, but Madi Shove SC ’13 responded with a breakaway goal a moment later. Douglass picked up her second goal of the day two minutes later, and Jana London PZ ’14 scored on a nice cut through the defense to make it a 3-1 game with just over 20 minutes remaining in the first half.
Both teams settled in and found a defensive groove, resulting in some back-and-forth play. After combining for four goals in the first 10 minutes, neither team scored again until London buried a free position shot with less than a minute left in the half to give the Sagehens a 4-1 lead going into the break.
The Athenas opened the second half with a goal to draw within two, but after winning the draw control, a save by goalkeeper Casey Leek PZ ’13 led to Logan Galansky’s unassisted goal. The Sagehens wouldn’t find the net for another 20 minutes, however, during which CMS scored four goals to take a 6-5 lead. London’s goal with 1:08 remaining led to thoughts of a second overtime classic, but it wasn’t meant to be. A controversial call by the referee gave the Athenas a free position shot, which Sutherland buried to win the game.
The teams were fairly evenly matched, but CMS’s seven free position shots led to three goals, none bigger than the final game winner. Douglass thought that “our two teams are pretty well matched, so if we meet CMS in the SCIAC tournament it’s going to come down to who is making smart decisions and which team has the most heart.”
“Unfortunately the calls didn’t go our way at the end of the game, and CMS capitalized on the opportunity to score,” Logan Galansky PO ’14 said. “That being said, I’m proud of how our team fought it out until the final whistle, and I’ll look forward to maybe playing CMS again in the SCIAC tournament next week.”
The Sagehens entered Saturday’s game against Occidental College knowing that a sweep would bring them closer to finishing third in the conference. The first meeting of the year was a tight, high-scoring affair that the Sagehens took 15-12 behind nine goals from London, including seven in the second half.
The rematch started with unassisted goals from Ally McLaughlin PO ’16 and Sarah Markowitz PZ ’16. Occidental, held scoreless for the first 16 minutes, evened the game up with a pair of goals, but P-P responded with a 4-0 run that included two goals from Douglass to take a 6-2 lead. Occidental managed to put another goal on the board just before halftime to go into halftime down 6-3.
Emma Molloy PZ ’13 opened the scoring in the second half to give the Sagehens a 7-3 lead, but the offense stagnated and didn’t record another goal for more than 20 minutes. Over that stretch, Occidental scored five goals to take an 8-7 lead. With the Sagehens’ backs against the wall, Douglass came up big. Her unassisted goal with 5:48 left tied the game, and after Kaitlin Jones PZ ’14 won the ensuing draw control, Douglass found London for the go-ahead goal. London’s goal, her second of the game, would prove to be the difference in the 9-8 win for P-P.
The Sagehens recorded their nine goals on only 12 shots, an extraordinarily efficient shooting performance. On the defensive end, Leek came up big with 10 saves in goal and a key loose-ball pickup as the Tigers were trying to tie late in the game.
P-P will be back in action with their regular-season finale at Whittier College on Sunday. A win, combined with Occidental losses, would give the Sagehens the third seed in SCIAC.