The top-seeded Athenas of Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges and the No. 3-seeded Sagehens of Pomona-Pitzer Colleges earned a spot in Sunday's final of the 2011 Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) Women's Lacrosse Championship Tournament after downing their respective opponents in a wind-impacted afternoon at Farquhar Field on the campus of the University of Redlands.
CMS cruised to a 16-6 victory by building upon a 9-1-halftime lead against the fourth-seeded Tigers of Occidental College in the opening semifinal. The Athenas rattled off seven unanswered goals to start the game, creating an insurmountable advantage against the Tigers.
Although Occidental rallied for five of its six goals during the second stanza, the final outcome was never in question.
Senior attack player Sarah Dick (Beverly, MA), sophomore midfielder Madi Shove (Portola Valley, CA), junior attack player Ali Abramovitz (Denver, CO), and sophomore attack player Rachel Darby (Yarmouth, ME) each found the back of the net on three occasions to lead the Athena offense. Dick also collected a team-high five draw controls to go along with two assists.
The Tigers gained a pair of goals from both sophomore midfielder Haley Gandsey (Oakland, CA) and sophomore attack player Isabel Osgood-Roach (Portland, OR). In addition, sophomore midfielder Charlotte Bromley (Haddam, CT) corralled five draw controls for Occidental.
While the opening game was decided early, the complete opposite was true in the second showdown, which required three extra periods.
During the first half, Redlands garnered a 9-5 halftime advantage, highlighted by a 3-0 run midway through the period. Junior midfielder Megan Prickett (Poway, CA), freshman midfielder KK McCaslin (Portland, OR), and sophomore attack player Aimee Dewan (Alamo, CA) each notched a goal during this stretch.
However, Pomona-Pitzer uncorked a tenacious and gutsy second half, which included a 5-1 run to open the stanza. Senior midfielder Hannah T'Kindt (Shaker Heights, OH) offered two of the Sagehens' goals during this offensive spurt, which made it 10-all with 18:38 left on the clock.
The teams traded goals through the remaining minutes, forcing overtime to decide the victor.
After two scoreless extra frames, Redlands' freshman midfielder Jacky Craycraft (Lake Forest, CA) nabbed the opening draw of the sudden-victory period and drove straight to the Pomona-Pitzer goal, flying by her opponents with her impressive speed. Sagehen freshman goalkeeper Casey Leek (Bucharest, Romania) made the head-on stop for her 16th of the game. On its ensuing possession, Pomona-Pitzer took the ball coast-to-coast as freshman midfielder Jana London (Chevy Chase, MD) found a way through the Bulldog defense for the game-winner and her fourth goal of the contest, resulting in the hard-fought 14-13 upset.
Prickett stepped up with six goals for the Bulldogs, while Dewan added a hat trick. Senior midfielder Christy Smith (St. Louis Park, MN) grabbed a team-high five draw controls.
For the Sagehens, London and T'Kindt accounted for eight goals, while freshman midfielder Logan Galansky (Denver, CO) added three goals and eight draw controls.
CMS (14-3, 9-0 SCIAC) and Pomona-Pitzer (10-7, 4-5 SCIAC) square off in the tournament title game at 1 p.m. on Sunday at Redlands' Farquhar Field.
Redlands finishes the season with a 13-4 overall record and a 5-4 mark in conference. Occidental's campaign came to an end with a 6-12 overall record to go along with a 3-6 showing in SCIAC.