Erik Munzer ’13 scored both goals in a 2-1 win over CMS.
Claremont, CA (October 8, 2012) – This week in Sagehen Athletics saw Pitzer athletes play huge roles in helping the Men’s Soccer team move into first place in the SCIAC, as well as leading the Women’s Soccer team to a pair of big conference wins.
Men’s Soccer traveled to CMS on Saturday in a battle between the top two teams in the SCIAC standings. The Stags came in with a half-game lead on the Sagehens and took a 1-0 lead into intermission on a free kick that deflected off a Sagehen player’s head and into the net. However, Erik Munzer ’13 came through with two goals in the second half to help carry his team to the come-from-behind win, scoring the game-winner from 30 yards out with just under 12 minutes to play. Munzer is a four-year starting central defender, who had four goals in his entire career (in 64 games) coming into the contest, but helped the Sagehens move to top of the SCIAC with goals No. 5 and No. 6.
On Wednesday, a Lawrence McDonald ’15 goal with 7:00 to play provided all of the game’s offense in a 1-0 Sagehen victory at La Verne. Munzer and Andrew Lind ’14 helped lead a defense that produced a shutout despite the team having to play one of its forwards (Guy Thyer PO ’16) at goalie for 20 minutes due to injuries. Men’s Soccer concludes a busy stretch when it hosts Cal Lutheran on Monday at 4 p.m. and travels to Chapman on Wednesday at 4 p.m., before getting seven days off to rest for the homestretch.
Women’s Soccer had the most dramatic win of the week, as it defeated CMS in overtime on Saturday. Allie Tao PO ’14 scored her second goal of the game with 4:01 left in the first extra session to give the Sagehens the 2-1 win, after CMS tied the score with just over six minutes remaining in regulation. The game-winner was set up by two Pitzer players, as Samantha Thompson ’15 played a cross in to Dana Christensen ’15, who had her shot saved by CMS goalie Hannah Dunham, but the rebound rolled across the goalmouth where Tao was able to tap it in. Christensen also added her first collegiate goal in a 3-1 win over La Verne on Wednesday, which proved to be the game-winner. The two wins enabled the Sagehens to stay in the top four in the conference, setting up two key games this week, as it hosts fifth-place Chapman on Wednesday and travels to first-place Cal Lutheran on Saturday.
Men’s Water Polo started out the year with an 0-11 September, facing 11 teams ranked in the top 20 (seven in the top 10). That daunting schedule was more than enough to get the Sagehens ready for SCIAC play, as they opened with a 12-7 win over La Verne on Wednesday before going 3-1 at the Gary Troyer Tournament with wins over No. 19 Cal Baptist, Harvard and Fordham.
Jarrod Gaut ’14 had a huge week for the Sagehens, scoring 14 goals in five games (after entering the week with three on the year), including eight on the final day of the Gary Troyer Tournament (four against Johns Hopkins, four against Fordham). Jason Cox ’13 also had 10 goals for the Sagehens on the week, with a team-high three (including the game-winner) in the 10-8 win over Cal Baptist. Stephen Vint ’15 also added six goals on the week, including a team-high three in front of an overflow crowd in the win over Harvard, while Austin Strong ’15 added a combined 20 saves in his two games in goal, wins over Harvard and Fordham.
Football returns home this week for its second home game of the year, and its first since Sept. 9 against Menlo College, taking on Whittier at 7 p.m. The Sagehens suffered a 24-7 loss to Chapman on Saturday, despite a strong defensive performance over the final 50 minutes after the Panthers opened the game with two touchdowns. Matthew Tesimale ’16 had three tackles, including one for a loss, to help the defensive unit, while Luc Dark-Fleury ’16 added two. Travis Muraoka ’13 caught a six-yard pass on offense for the Sagehens as well.
Volleyball will also have two home matches this weekend, as it hosts Caltech on Saturday at 11 a.m. and Occidental later the same day at 5 p.m. The Sagehens showed plenty of heart playing shorthanded this week, although they went 0-3 against CMS, La Verne and Whittier, as two games against first-place La Verne went to extra points (26-24, 25-13, 26-24). The Sagehens also took the first game from Whittier 31-29 before falling 3-1. Ellen Yamasaki ’15 led the team in kills in all three matches, totaling 40 on the week.
The Men’s and Women’s Cross Country teams were off this weekend, but compete at the SCIAC Multi-Duals this Friday in La Mirada.
