The Pomona-Pitzer women’s lacrosse team defeated Chapman University 10-6 on Saturday, April 26 at Pomona College’s South Athletic Complex. With the win, the Sagehens (16-3, 9-2 SCIAC) advance to finals of the SCIAC Championships tomorrow, May 3.
P-P took an early lead with a goal by Hannah Christenson PO ’17 two minutes into the game. However, both defenses came to play, making this the only goal of the first 10 minutes. After the scoreless streak, Sarah Markowitz PZ ’16 ended the drought by scoring on a free-position shot. Less than a minute later, Markowitz assisted a goal scored by Ally McLaughlin PO ’16 to put the Sagehens up 3-0.
With 15 minutes left in the first half, Markowitz found McLaughlin again for another P-P goal. Behind a stellar defensive performance, the Hens were able to create more opportunities for scoring. A Chapman turnover led to another P-P goal by Christenson, her second of the match. This put the Sagehens up 5-0. With just under four minutes remaining in the half, Rebecca Long PO ’17 converted another Chapman turnover into a P-P goal. After keeping the Panthers scoreless, the Sagehens went into halftime with a 6-0 lead.
The Sagehens felt good with the strong start, but knew they could not get too comfortable.
“It was a great feeling to come out strong and against a good team, but at the same time, we are always aware that games have a tendency to change momentum,” Long said.
With their dominant first-half performance, the Sagehens looked to be on the way to a victory, but Chapman did not go away easily. The Panther offense began to come alive in the beginning of the second half, starting with a goal 50 seconds in by Brooke Martini to make the score 6-1. P-P answered with a goal of its own a minute later by Christenson, but with 25 minutes left to play, Chapman’s offense came alive again—they scored four straight goals in five minutes, narrowing the Sagehen lead to 7-5. However, the Sagehens defense responded, keeping the Panthers scoreless for the next 12 minutes.
Another goal by Long put the Hens back up by three, but Chapman responded with a goal of its own to make the score 8-6. This was the closest the Panthers would get. Aubrey Douglass PZ ’16 scored with just under five minutes to play, giving P-P a 9-6 lead, and McLaughlin scored her third goal of the match a minute later to give the Sagehens a four-goal lead. The match ended with a final score of 10-6.
Even though the Hens took the win, they were not content with their overall performance.
“Honestly, we didn’t feel great after that game because, although we won, we did not play our best,” Christenson said.
Christenson and McLaughlin each scored hat tricks to contribute to the P-P victory. The Sagehen defense shut down the Panthers in the latter part of the second half, with a solid performance by goalie Gaby Fukumura PO ’17. Fukumura had five crucial saves that proved to be the difference in the game.
The Sagehens will face the University of Redlands in the finals of the SCIAC Championships tomorrow at the South Athletic Complex. The Hens split their games with Redlands this season, with both going into overtime. After losing their first match against Redlands, the Sagehens won in sudden-death quadruple overtime to secure the No. 1 seed in the SCIAC tournament.
Long and the rest of her teammates are aware of their history with Redlands this season.
“We’ve played Redlands twice now, and both times it has been close game all the way into overtime,” Long said. “We are preparing to bring the focus and intensity that we’ll need to play another great game against Redlands.”
“We’re looking forward to our game against Redlands,” Christenson added. “We know that they’re a great team, so we’re expecting an intense game, but we’re determined to play our best.”
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