Claremont, CA. (November 2, 2021)—The Pomona-Pitzer Women’s team clinched their third consecutive regular season SCIAC Championship with their 3-0 win over SCIAC opponent La Verne on Saturday, October 30, on Senior Day, giving the Sagehens the opportunity to celebrate both their championship and their seniors on the same day.
With the win, the Sagehens secured the No. 1 seed in the SCIAC Postseason Tournament and end the regular season at 13-1-2 overall and 9-1-2 in SCIAC play. Before the game, the Sagehens honored its three seniors, including Pitzer’s Anna Ponzio ’22. During her Sagehens career, Ponzio has earned Second Team All-SCIAC and SCIAC All-Academic Team honors. This season, she’s ranked third in the SCIAC for game-winning goals (2).
The Sagehens had three different goal scorers in the win—Pitzer’s Caitlyn Pham ’24 and teammates Amanda Khu (PO’25) and Taylor Venenciano (PO’23) all found the back of the net in the win. The Sagehens dominated possession against the La Verne Leopards and had multiple scoring opportunities early on in the first half. The Sagehens found the first goal after Hannah Mandell (PO ’23) worked her way around the defense and rocketed a ball off of the crossbar that rebounded straight to the head of Khu, who headed it in for the first goal of the game.
The Sagehens didn’t get their second goal until the 70th minute of the game as Mandell was involved again, this time laying off a header to the feet of Venenciano, who guided the ball to the back of the net to give the Sagehens a 2-0 lead.
The Sagehens put an exclamation point on their regular season as Pham blasted a deep freekick over the keeper’s head.
Up Next: The Sagehens will host Occidental in the SCIAC Semifinals on Thursday, November 4, at 2:30 p.m.
Adapted from the Pomona-Pitzer Athletics press release “Sagehens Earn Third-Straight SCIAC Regular Season Title with 3-0 Win Over La Verne.”
