Jason Cox ’13 of the Sagehens Men’s Water Polo team (photo by Becky Gaut, mother of Jarrod Gaut ’14)
Claremont, CA (November 5, 2012) – This week in Sagehen Athletics saw the Women’s Soccer team advance to the SCIAC finals for the first time in program history, while the Men’s Water Polo team finished the regular season a perfect 8-0 in the SCIAC with a 12-9 win over CMS in front of an overflow crowd at Haldeman Pool.
Men’s Water Polo came into the CMS contest with a 7-0 league record, one game ahead of the 6-1 Stags, meaning that the winner would be the top seed in this weekend’s SCIAC Tournament at Whittier. In order to stay unbeaten, the Sagehens first needed to come from behind on Wednesday to defeat Chapman 10-9, as Jason Cox ’13 scored the game-winning goal with 53 seconds left, his fourth of the game. Cox also had a team-high four goals in a 13-9 loss to Air Force on Friday.
On Saturday, the Sagehens once again fell behind against CMS, as the Stags scored with 18 seconds left in the half to take a 5-4 lead going into halftime, and then scored two quick goals to start the second half and take a 7-4 lead. However, the team responded with an emphatic 7-0 run to take control of the match. Jarrod Gaut ’14 scored to make the score 7-6, and Cox tied it up late in the third quarter with his second goal of the game to make it 7-7. Stephen Vint ’15 then added back-to-back goals less than a minute apart to cap off the run and give the Sagehens an 11-7 lead with just over three minutes to play, and they were able to cruise from there to a 12-9 win, capping off an 8-0 regular season.
The Sagehens will open play in the SCIAC Tournament on Friday at 7 p.m. at Whittier, against the winner of the first contest of the day between Occidental and Caltech. If the Sagehens win, the semifinal will be at 1 p.m. on Saturday, and the championship match will be Sunday at 1:30 p.m.
The Women’s Soccer team had its bid for a SCIAC postseason title come up short, as it fell in the championship at Chapman on Saturday 4-1. To get there, though, the Sagehens first had to pull a big upset, as it went on the road and defeated top-seeded Cal Lutheran 2-1 in overtime. Samantha Thompson ’15 set up the tying goal midway through the second half, as she chipped a ball off the crossbar, before Julia Dohner PO ’16 finished into the empty net in front.
Men’s Soccer also fell in the postseason by the same 4-1 score in the semifinals on Thursday, as Whittier scored late in the first half to take a 1-0 lead and then scored just 11 seconds into the second half. Andrew Lind ’14 set up the lone goal for the Sagehens, as he headed down a cross where Nathan Shekita PO ’15 was able to finish inside the six-yard box. The loss snapped an 11-game win streak, the longest for the program since the 1973 team won 14 in a row.
A big week is ahead, as the Football team closes out its 2012 campaign with the annual Peace Pipe game at home against CMS on Saturday at 1 p.m. at Merritt Field, while the Men’s and Women’s Cross Country teams travel to Oregon for the NCAA West Regionals. The Men’s Water Polo team will also look to defend its SCIAC Championship in the conference tournament at Whittier.
