Claremont, Calif. (October 14, 2013) This week in Sagehens Athletics saw the Men’s Soccer and Volleyball teams both go undefeated and pick up important SCIAC wins, while the Women’s Soccer team bounced back from a tough loss to secure its hold on one of the top spots in the conference standings.
Andrew Lind ’14 helped lead the Men’s Soccer team to a pair of SCIAC wins this week.
The Men’s Soccer team continued its resurgence with a pair of home wins, defeating Caltech on Monday and then rallying from behind to edge Whittier 2-1 on Saturday. The Whittier win was crucial to the Sagehens’ SCIAC Postseason Tournament hopes, and Andrew Lind ’14 set up the game-winning goal with just over six minutes to play when he made a perfect pass behind the Whittier defense for a breakaway. Lind also had the game-winning goal in a 4-2 win over Caltech on Monday, heading in a cross with 12 minutes left to put the Sagehens ahead 2-1. Men’s Soccer will play a pair of key local road games this week, traveling to La Verne on Monday (7 p.m.) and CMS (1 p.m.).
Volleyball went 3-0 on a busy weekend with three sweeps, defeating Kenyon on Friday night and Whittier and Susquehanna on Saturday. The Whittier win was crucial, as the Sagehens entered the match tied in the SCIAC standings with the Poets, but were able to move into a top four position. Ellen Yamasaki ’15 had back-to-back kills with the score tied 23-23 in the second game of the win over Whittier to give the Sagehens a 2-0 lead, swinging the momentum of the match. Volleyball faces a busy week, hosting La Verne on Tuesday, traveling to Whittier for a rematch on Friday, and then hosting Rose-Hulman and No. 3 Cal Lutheran on Saturday.
Women’s Soccer faced Cal Lutheran at home on Wednesday in the rain in a battle for first place in the SCIAC and were 90 seconds away from sole possession of first place in the league, but the Regals were awarded a penalty kick with 1:28 left to tie the score 2-2 and then won five minutes into the first overtime. The Sagehens regrouped, though, and went on the road to defeat La Verne 4-1 on Saturday with Nicola Ying Fry ’16 contributing a pass that led to one of the second-half goals. Women’s Soccer will travel to Occidental on Wednesday before hosting CMS on Saturday.
Football ran into a hot Chapman team on Saturday and put up a tough battle for a while, trailing 34-21 in the third quarter, before the Panthers pulled away for a 62-21 win. Brandon Zemp ’17 earned significant playing time after moving to defensive back (from running back) and contributed four tackles, while Isaac Richard III ’15 (three tackles), Nicky LaCivita ’15 (three tackles) and Nick Urban ’17 (two tackles) all saw time on defense as well. Colton Coss ’17 earned his first start on the offensive line and helped the team tally over 400 yards of total offense. The Sagehens travel to Whittier this weekend for a 3 p.m. contest.
Men’s Water Polo competed in the highly-competitive UC Irvine Invitational this weekend, a 16-team field in which 14 of the teams were nationally ranked. The Sagehens fell to No. 1 UCLA, No. 8 Pepperdine, No. 13 UC San Diego and No. 15 Santa Clara, raising their total to 13 matches against nationally ranked teams this year (nine of which were top 10). Jarrod Gaut ’14 had three goals in an 11-7 loss to Santa Clara to close out the tournament, while Stephen Vint ’15 had two goals in a 13-4 loss to Pepperdine. Men’s Water Polo opens SCIAC play this week with home matches against Cal Lutheran on Wednesday and Occidental on Saturday, and adds a non-conference match with Air Force on Saturday as well.
After being idle this past week, the Men’s and Women’s Cross Country teams will compete on Friday at the annual SCIAC Multi-Duals held at La Mirada Park. The Men’s Cross Country team has been in a tight battle with CMS for the top spot in the West Region all fall, and Friday’s results will likely swing that poll in one direction or the other. Paul Messana ’17 will be one of the top runners for the Men’s Cross Country team, while Camille Matonis ’15 will be at the front of the Sagehen pack on the women’s side.
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Monday, Oct. 14
Men’s Soccer at La Verne, 7 p.m.
Tuesday, Oct. 15
Volleyball (H) vs. La Verne, 7:30 p.m.
Wednesday, Oct. 16
Men’s Water Polo (H) vs. Cal Lutheran, 4 p.m.
Women’s Soccer at Occidental, 7 p.m.
Friday, Oct. 18
Cross Country at SCIAC Multi-Duals, 4:30 p.m. (La Mirada Park)
Volleyball at Whittier, 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, Oct. 19
Women’s Soccer (H) vs. CMS, 11 a.m.
Men’s Water Polo (H) vs. Occidental, 11 a.m.
Volleyball (H) vs. Rose-Hulman, 12 p.m.
Men’s Soccer at CMS, 1 p.m.
Football at Whittier, 3 p.m.
Men’s Water Polo (H) vs. Air Force, 3 p.m.
Volleyball (H) vs. Cal Lutheran, 6 p.m.
