The Pomona-Pitzer women’s lacrosse team traveled to
Occidental College’s Jack Kemp Stadium on Feb. 15 to take on the Tigers in a battle of undefeated
teams. A late P-P goal tied the game, but the Sagehens lost in overtime by a
score of 8-7; after defeating fellow SCIAC members Whittier College and Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, the Hens suffered
their first loss of the season.
In a game that proved to be an
offensive struggle, three goals were scored in the first three minutes. Oxy began the game with a quick goal in their first possession off of the opening
draw. After the goal, Oxy controlled the next draw and scored after the
Sagehens’ clear attempt failed. Just two minutes into the game, the Tigers were
up 2-0. However, less than a minute later, Jana London PZ ’14 scored to pull
the Hens within a goal. After a quick-paced first few minutes, the defenses of
both teams stepped up as the game went scoreless for the next 15 minutes.
With
13 minutes left in the first half, London scored again to tie the game 2-2.
The teams then exchanged goals, beginning with Oxy’s Rebecca Belding with over six minutes left in the half. Hannah Christenson PO ’17 answered the goal to tie
the game 3-3. After a free position goal by the Tigers, it seemed
as though Oxy would go into halftime with a lead, but with only five seconds
left in the half, Ally McLaughlin PO ’16 tied the game with a goal assisted by
Aubrey Douglass PZ ’16.
The
second half began similarly, with two goals being scored in the
first three minutes. First, the Tigers’ Alida Beck scored on a free position
goal. This was followed by another goal from Christenson to tie the game at
5-5. With over 23 minutes left to play, McLaughlin scored her second goal of the match to
help the Sagehens take their first lead of the game. After 10 scoreless
minutes, Oxy’s Beebe Finch answered the P-P goal, and the game was tied for the
fourth time.
Again, both defenses’ and goalies’ play improved in the latter part of the half.
The game remained scoreless until two minutes left in the match, when Oxy scored on another free position shot to pull ahead 7-6. With less than a minute to play, it looked like it was over for the Sagehens, but on the final
shot of regulation, Emlyn Foxen PO ’16 scored on a free position goal to tie
the game at 7-7 and put the match into overtime.
The
Tigers won the draw to begin the six-minute overtime period, but failed to score as
goalie Gaby Fukumura PO ’17 made a great save. In the final minute of extra
time, Oxy failed to convert on a free position goal, but scored on the rebound
to pull ahead with only 43 seconds left. The Sagehens had no more late-game magic, and lost with the final score at 8-7.
London,
McLaughlin, and Christenson led the way for the Hens, each scoring two goals,
with Foxen adding the clutch late goal to send the game into overtime. London
now has a team-leading 10 goals across the first three games of the season.
Fukumura tallied 13 saves in a stellar performance to keep the Sagehens in the
match.
With
the loss, the Sagehens fell to 2-1 overall and 2-1 in SCIAC play. Oxy stayed undefeated in SCIAC play at 3-0.
P-P went on to defeat Chapman University 11-8 on Feb. 19. Their next match is against the University of Redlands on Feb. 22 at 11 a.m. at home.