Sagehen Round Up for the Week of October 10, 2011

Claremont, Calif. (October 17, 2011) — Pitzer College student-athletes continued to have key roles in helping Sagehen athletics to a strong fall season. In fact, the current leading scorers on the Men’s Soccer, Women’s Soccer and Men’s Water Polo teams, as well as the leading hitter on the Volleyball team, are all from Pitzer.

Traci Lopez ’12 had a huge week to help Pitzer-Pomona Women’s Soccer to the brink of a SCIAC Tournament berth. Lopez had a goal in all three games as the Sagehens went 2-0-1, including the game-winning goals against Whittier and La Verne and the only Pitzer-Pomona goal in a 1-1 tie with CMS. Lilli Barrett-O’Keefe ’14 also set up one of the Sagehen goals against La Verne with a perfect cross after beating her defender into the penalty area.

Jason Cox ’14 continued his strong fall for Men’s Water Polo by scoring four goals in a 15-8 win over Occidental in the SCIAC opener for the Sagehens. Occidental led 6-4 in the second quarter, before Cox helped spark a 10-0 run that turned into a 14-6 fourth-quarter lead. He now has a team-high 35 goals on the season.

Lawrence McDonald ’15 took over the scoring lead for the Men’s Soccer team after scoring the game’s only goal in a key 1-0 win over Whittier on Monday. He also added an assist on an early goal against CMS on Saturday, before the Stags used a big second half to come back for the win. McDonald now has three goals and two assists on the year, giving him a team-high eight points.

Alex Johnson ’13 was the top finisher for the Sagehen Men’s Cross Country team, finishing with a time of 26:39 (fourth overall) at the SCIAC Multi-Duals, helping Pitzer-Pomona finish second at the event. Colin Flynn ’12 also earned points for the Sagehens with a time of 27:29, placing him 15th overall. Roxanne Cook ’13 and Leslie Canter ’12 were the third and fourth finishers for the Women’s Cross Country team, which came in fourth place at the Multi-Duals.

Tim Stapenhorst ’12 continued his key role as a left tackle on the Men’s Football team offensive line by helping running back Luke Sweeney PO ’13 rush for a career-high 265 yards in a 42-35 loss to Occidental. Stapenhorst and the offensive line led the Sagehens to 440 yards of total offense and a late 35-34 lead, but Pitzer-Pomona came up one play short in a 42-35 loss after getting all the way to the Occidental nine-yard line with one second left. The “O-Line” also allowed only two quarterback sacks and have given up only seven all season through five games (and 185 passing plays).

Women’s Volleyball had a quiet week with only a road match at Chapman, but Ellen Yamasaki ’15 pulled closer to the 200-kill mark for the season, as she now has 196, which is 64 more than her closest teammate.

The Sagehen teams have many big games/matches at home this week as the fall season winds down and teams fight for postseason berths. Men’s Soccer (Wednesday, 4 p.m. vs. Caltech) and Women’s Soccer (Saturday, 11 a.m. vs. Occidental) will try to defend their home turf in important SCIAC contests, while Women’s Volleyball (Friday, 5 p.m. vs. Whittier) has a very important SCIAC home match as well, before a pair of non-conference home matches (Friday, 7:30 p.m. vs. NYU; Saturday, 1 p.m. vs. Chapman). Men’s Water Polo hosts Whittier on Saturday (11 a.m.) before an exciting home match at 3 p.m. against Pac 10 power UCLA, while Men’s Football finishes off a busy home week with a game against nationally ranked Cal Lutheran at Merritt Field (Saturday, 7 p.m.).

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About Pitzer College

Pitzer College is a nationally top-ranked undergraduate liberal arts and sciences institution. A member of The Claremont Colleges, Pitzer offers a distinctive approach to a liberal arts education by linking intellectual inquiry with interdisciplinary studies, cultural immersion, social responsibility, and community involvement. For more information, please visit www.pitzer.edu.

About Sagehen Athletics

Pitzer College joins with Pomona College to field 21 varsity teams – The Sagehens – that compete in Division III NCAA athletics and as members of the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC). There are 10 men’s and 11 women’s teams: baseball (men), basketball, cross country, football (men), golf, lacrosse (women), soccer, softball (women), swimming and diving, tennis, track and field, volleyball (women) and water polo.

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