The Pomona-Pitzer women’s lacrosse team knew that they faced an uphill battle heading into Sunday’s match up with University of Redlands. After a triple overtime victory over Claremont-Mudd-Scripps in the opening round, the Sagehens ran into the Bulldogs, who handed them a 17-7 loss this past Sunday. Redlands had beaten the Sagehens by a combined score of 24-11 in their two meetings earlier this year. The Bulldogs, granted a bye in the first round, were undefeated in conference play at home. The Sagehens stayed close through most of a high-scoring first half, but ran out of gas late and fell 17-7. The loss gave them a 11-8 overall record, including 6-6 in conference play.
The Bulldogs jumped out to an early 3-0 lead before Jana London PZ ’14 scored an unassisted goal. After two more quick Redlands goals, London buried a free position shot, but the Bulldogs picked up another two goals within 30 seconds to take a 7-2 lead.
The Sagehens refused to go away quietly, however, and goals from Emma Molloy PZ ’13 and Sarah Markowitz PZ ’16 drew them within three with 13 minutes remaining in the first half. After the two teams exchanged another pair of goals, Redlands went on a 5-0 run that ultimately buried the Sagehens. London added a buzzer-beating goal to bring the score to 13-6 entering halftime, but the Bulldogs were firmly in control.
The second half wasn’t nearly as explosive as the first; fifteen scoreless minutes passed before London scored off a feed from Molloy to make it a 13-7 game. The Sagehens couldn’t get any offense going after that point and Redlands held possession, never letting their opponent establish any kind of rhythm.
London led all scorers with four goals, giving her a conference-leading 62 on the year. Molloy added a goal and an assist in her final college game.
Though Redlands had just a 25-22 edge in shots, the Bulldogs committed just seven fouls against 35 for the Sagehens, which helped them, maintain possession in the second half. They were also helped by some outstanding play from All-SCIAC goalkeeper Ana Martinez, who stopped 10 of the 17 shots that came her way.
The loss marked the end of the Sagehens’ season, but there were many bright spots to be found amid the disappointment. Molloy and second-team All-SCIAC goalie Casey Leek PZ ’13 are the only departing players. London and Logan Galansky PO ’14 should lead an exciting offense helped by a group of talented underclassmen with an additional year of experience.
While the loss of Leek will hurt the goal, the Sagehens will still have standout defender Rachel Kessler PZ ’14, who will lead a defense that allowed an average of less than 10 goals a game. First-years Makayla DeJong PO ’16 and Ally McLaughlin PO ’16 emerged as savvy contributors this year and should be even better in 2014.
The loss to Redlands was disappointing, but P-P women’s lacrosse shows promise for next year. With almost every major contributor returning, they look ready to contend for the SCIAC crown in 2014.