Sagehens Women’s Soccer Makes History Advancing to NCAA Sweet 16

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Sagehens Women’s Soccer Team

Claremont, Calif. (November 13, 2016)—For the first time in program history, the Pomona-Pitzer Women’s Soccer team advanced to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament following the team’s 6-0 win over rival Claremont-Mudd-Scripps. No. 18 Pomona-Pitzer played CMS in round two of the NCAA Tournament on Sunday at the Pomona-Pitzer Soccer Field.

This month the team also won the regular season Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Championship for the first time since 2005.

In the game against CMS, Pomona-Pitzer (16-1-3, 12-0-3) had an incredible offensive performance as six different players scored a goal in the win. Danika Bethune (PO ’17) started the ball rolling by scoring early for the Sagehens as she weaved around the CMS defense and found the back of the net in the eighth minute to give Pomona-Pitzer an early 1-0 lead.

The Sagehens went on to score two goals less than a minute apart as Agueda Dudley-Berrios (PO ’17) flicked in a lob off of a cross by Abby Onderwyzer Gold (PO ’18) and Sara Sherburne (PO ’19) scored off of a pass from Pitzer College first-year student and SCIAC Newcomer of the Year Brianna Lau ’20 to extend the lead to 3-0 in the 29th minute.

Pomona-Pitzer came out of halftime and added two more goals within the first 11 minutes of the second half as Alyssa Kim ’17 scored from close range off of a pass from Bethune in the 50th minute and Natasha Thornton-Clark (PO ’18) set up Onderwyzer Gold for a goal in the 56th minute to give the Sagehens a commanding 5-0 lead.

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Peri Cuppens ’19

Peri Cuppens ’19 added the final goal of the day for the Sagehens in the 80th minute as she settled a ball in from the backline and put it past the CMS goal keeper to match a season-high for goals in a game for Pomona-Pitzer with six.

Goal keeper Corey Goelz ’17 posted her ninth shutout of the season as she tallied five saves in the win for the Sagehens.

The Sagehens Women’s Soccer team has been outstanding all season. Last week, the team won top honors when SCIAC announced end-of-the-year awards. In addition to Lau earning Newcomer of the Year, Nadia Alaiyan (PO ’17) won SCIAC Player of the Year, the team’s coaches–led by Head Coach Jennifer Scanlon–were named Coaching Staff of the Year, and eight players earned All-SCIAC distinction, including Cuppens, who led the Sagehens in goals and points and finished second in the conference in goals with eight this season.

Up Next: The Sagehens will face the winner of Wisconsin Whitewater and Loras College in a location to be determined.

 

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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