The Daily Hen Sports Update

Football

Overall: 2-4     SCIAC: 2-2

The Sagehen's evened their conference record with their second straight victory, this time over rival CMS, 24-10. In the 47th meeting between these two teams, the Sagehens were able to dominate on the ground, gaining 248 of their 333 total yards off of the rush. Raudric Curtis led Pomona-Pitzer with 89 yards on 16 carries, and Arthur Przybyl ran for 62 yards on 15 carries and a touchdown. 

Joe Cappola led the Sagehens to their first win of the season on Saturday, defeating host Cal Lutheran 27-26.  Cappola rushed for 150 yards on 11 carries and 1 touchdown as a running back, and also caught 4 passes for 80 yards and a touchdown.  The Kingsmen scored first, off of a 34 yard touchdown pass in the fist four minutes of the game. The Sagehens answered back, with a four play, 77 yard drive capped by a one yard scoring run by quarterback Justin Fenchel. Going into halftime, the Kingsmen held on to a 20-14 lead, and after three quarters, the lead was down to 3, 24-21. In the fourth quarter, Cappola caught a 23 yard touchdown pass from Fenchel, capping off a six play, 75 yard drive, and giving the Sagehens the lead for good.

In a game that featured nine turnovers, the Sagehens lost to the visiting Whittier Poets 9-8 on Saturday. Kicker Andrew Floyd opened the scoring in the second quarter, nailing a 22 yard field goal to put Pomona-Pitzer up 3-0. The Sagehens then scored on a safety to take a 5-0 lead into the half. In the third quarter, the Poets capitalized on a stagnant Sagehen offense, and hit a 21 yard field goal to close the gap, 5-3. With just under four minutes remaining in the third period, Floyd answered back with a 26 yard field goal off of a six play, 24 yard drive to give the Hens an 8-3 lead. Facing a third and 25, Whittier quarterback Josh Scurlock found an open receiver for a 40 yard touchdown as the third quarter came to an end; the conversion attempt failed. That would end the scoring threat, and the Poets went on to win the game 9-8.

Men's Soccer

Overall: 8-4     SCIAC: 7-1

The Sagehens ran their win streak to seven on Saturday with a 4-0 shutout against La Verne; it is their seventh straight shutout victory. Scott Coleman scored twice, and Joey Greenwald and Mario Velez each added one as the Sagehens scored twice in each half.

Joey Greenwald scored the only goal off of a Scott Coleman cross, to beat the Bulldogs of Redlands, 1-0. This is the first time since 2000 that the Sagehens have beaten the Bulldogs, and the win puts Pomona-Pitzer in first place. This is the seventh win in a row for the Sagehens, and also their seventh straight shutout. On Saturday, the Hens take on La Verne at 11 am.

Sam Farina-Henry scored three goals and Alex Montes added two as the Sagehens defeated Caltech 9-0 on Saturday. Also scoring for Pomona-Pitzer was Matt Sauter, Kohei Suwabe, Joey Greenwald, and Aron Mohan. Scott Coleman, David Roy, and Michael Press contributed with assists. On Wednesday, the Sagehens host Redlands at 4 pm.

Mario Velez scored both goals in a 2-0 win over Cal Lutheran at home on Wednesday. The first goal came in the 53rd minute off of a thru-ball assist by Alex Pickrell. The second goal came with one minute remaining and was from 20 yards out. On Saturday the Sagehens travel to Caltech to take on the Beavers at 11 am.

Scott Coleman scored on a penalty kick in the 93rd minute to give the Sagehens their first win over CMS since 2000. Both teams battled to a scoreless tie for 90 minutes, but in the overtime period, Coleman was fouled in the box, giving the Sagehens the penalty kick, and as a result, the win. On Wednesday, they take on Cal Lutheran at 4 pm.

Women's Soccer

Overall: 6-3-3     SCIAC: 5-1-2

Pomona-Pitzer faced La Verne on Saturday in a SCIAC match-up. The Hens had begun their six game streak without a loss back on Sept. 22nd, with a 1-0 overtime victory against the Leopards. This game proved to be just as exciting, as the Sagehens again came out on top with an overtime win. Kate Walker scored the game-winner in the 101st minute to break the scoreless tie. Neither La Verne or Pomona-Pitzer could find the back of the net during regulation, although both teams had chances. The Hens took 12 shots, seven on goal, while the Leopards had 11 shots, five of them on goal. The Pomona-Pitzer defense of Lauren Denny, Caitlin Barrett, Ashley Hovey, Becky May, Melissa Berg and goalkeeper Kelsyn Bevins recorded their fourth shutout in SCIAC play. Walker scored her team-leading seventh goal of the season on a breakaway. The through ball came from Anna Renery for the assist. Walker ran onto the bouncing ball, headed it over an on-rushing defender and fired the shot into the upper right hand corner for the game-winner. The Hens travel to Eagle Rock on Wednesday to take on Occidental College at 4:00 p.m.

The Sagehens traveled to Redlands for a midweek match-up versus the 1st place SCIAC team and the number 18th ranked team in the country. Pomona-Pitzer came out with a 2-1 victory, handing the Bulldogs their first conference loss of the season. The result reversed the score of the first match-up between these two teams, played three weeks ago. As in the previous game, the Sagehens scored first and took a 1-0 lead into the half. The goal came from Kate Walker, who drilled a hard shot from 20 yards out. The shot deflected off of a Redlands defender into the goal for Walker’s team leading 6th goal of the season. The first half was evenly contested, with the Hens taking four shots and Redlands taking five shots. The second half was a hard-fought affair and Pomona-Pitzer notched another goal at the 61minute mark, to go up 2-0. Walker played a role in this goal as well, hustling to challenge the goalkeeper for a loose ball and keeping it alive. The ball bounced around the box and fell to Hana Ripperger-Suhler, who knocked it in from six yards out for her first collegiate goal. It turned out to be the game-winner, as Redlands responded to the two goal deficit with a furious attack. The Hens defense was up for it, coming within 2 ½ minutes of a shutout. The Bulldogs did find the net in the 87th minute after a long ball into the box and a goal-mouth scramble. The final result was a 2-1 Pomona-Pitzer victory, bringing them within two points of Redlands in the conference standings with five SCIAC games left to play. The Hens next game is on Saturday against La Verne, to be played at 11:00 am in Claremont.

The Sagehens traveled to Thousand Oaks to play Cal Lutheran for a midweek SCIAC game on Wednesday. In a closely contested game, the Hens and Regals battled to a 0-0 draw after 90 minutes of regulation and 20 minutes of overtime. Goalkeeper Kelsyn Bevins (Fr., Missoula, MT / Hellgate) came up big in the net to keep Cal Lutheran off the scoreboard. Bevins made 9 saves, including a great diving save near the end of regulation to keep the score knotted at zero. The Hens took 6 shots, but were held scoreless for the first time this season. The tie brings Pomona-Pitzer’s record to 4-3-3 overall and 3-1-2 in SCIAC play after the end of the first round of games. The Hens have a bye date over the weekend and start the second round of action at Redlands on Wednesday, Oct. 20th. Redlands is undefeated so far in SCIAC play and is ranked #22 in the country for Division III teams.

Saturday, Oct. 2nd brought a match-up between Pomona-Pitzer and cross-street rivals Claremont-Mudd-Scripps. The teams entered the game as 2nd and 3rd place in the SCIAC standings and the game lived up to its billing. The teams battled in a hard-fought match, but after two overtime periods, the score remained locked at 1-1. CMS took an early lead, scoring in the 10th minute, but the Sagehens regrouped and kept the game close. In the 72nd minute, freshman Sonya Cifuentes-Hiss brought the Sagehens back into the game with a skillful scoring run up the field. Both teams pressed during overtime, with the action going back and forth on the field, but neither team could find the net. Goalkeeper Kelsyn Bevins played extremely well, with a season-high 13 saves. The tie brings the Sagehens to a 3-1-1 record in SCIAC with the next game on Wednesday at Cal Lutheran.

The Sagehens tallied another win in conference play, outscoring the Whittier Poets 3-1. Pomona-Pitzer fell behind 1-0 in the 18^th minute, when Whittier scored off a breakaway.  The Hens battled back to tie it up at 33:57 when Jillian Duffy connected for her first collegiate goal.  The assist came from midfielder Lily Muldoon.  The Sagehens took the lead for good at the start of the second half, scoring in the 47^th minute. Jillian Duffy made it two for the day, this time on a great ball over the top from defender Lauren Denny.  With a late goal by Sonya Cifuentes-Hiss, the Hens sealed the game for a 3-1 victory over the defending SCIAC champions.

Men's Water Polo

Overall: 7-10     SCIAC: 0-0

This last Saturday morning the Hens took on a local Junior college team, Mount Sac., located in nearby Walnut. In fact, the Hens played twice, with the some of the team playing the first game, then leaving for USC, while the others stayed and played the second game, then came to USC. The Hens got off to a moderate start, scoring first but trailing 3-2 at the end of the first period and 5-4 at the half before starting the third period with five straight goals, two in a row for Bryan Price, one by David Mock, then two more in a row from Tim Brown. Mt. Sac. refused to quit and made it interesting the rest of the way, but were never able to get closer than three goals to the Hens. Brown and Price led the scoring with four apiece, Mock had three, and Melvihill and John Kim one each. Mock had two assists and Ian Kusao, Price, Melvihill and Michael Stout each had one. Brown led with four steals, Kim with two, and Stout and Price one each.

Volleyball

Overall: 16-8     SCIAC: 5-3

The Sagehens matched their win total from last season with a 3-1 win over the visiting Whittier Poets. Katherine Hopkins led the Hen offense with 11 kills, and Laura Laakso had 40 sets and 20 digs.

Alex Wakeman hit .310 with 12 kills and 10 digs to lead the Hens to their 14th win of the season over visiting La Sierra University on Saturday; Laura Laakso had 42 sets and nine digs. On Tuesday, the Hens travel to Chapman for a 7:30 pm game.

In the first game of a double-header, the Sagehens beat the Eagles of Benedictine College, 30-26, 19-30, 30-13, 30-24. Katherine Hopkins' 17 kills paced the Hens in their 13th victory of the season. Laura Laakso had 35 sets on the afternoon, Jessica Rybka added 16 kills, and libero Carla Bagdonas had 21 digs.

The Regals of Cal Lutheran defeated the Sagehens in three games, 30-31, 30-9, 30-21 on Friday. Katherine Hopkins led the Hens with eight kills, six digs, and a .208 hitting percentage. The loss drops Pomona-Pitzer's record to 12-8, 4-3 in SCIAC. On Saturday, the Hens host Benedictine College at 3:30 pm and La Sierra University at 7:30 pm.

Men's Cross Country

Overall: 7-0     SCIAC: 7-0

Taking five of the top 11 spots, Pomona-Pitzer's men's cross country team won all seven dual meets Friday in the SCIAC Multi-Dual competition held at La Mirada Park. In a race that counts toward 50% of the overall SCIAC standings, Pomona-Pitzer firmly established itself as the team to beat. P-P beat all seven other SCIAC schools to finish the dual meet season 7-0 for the second year in a row. Scores against the SCIAC schools were as follows (low score wins): PP 15, CIT 49; PP 15, CLU 50; PP 19, CMS 39; PP 19, La Verne 41; PP 25, Oxy 33; PP 15, Redlands 48; PP 15, Whittier 50. Individually, junior Crosby Freeman grabbed the lead for good after the two mile mark to win by a large margin in 26:00.4 over the 8000m (5 mile course). Following Freeman for Pomona-Pitzer were sophomore Will Leer (4th, 27:08), senior Golden Krishna (8th, 27:30), senior Nate DeFelice (9th, 27:36), and sophomore Sean McCarron (11th, 27:43). Pomona-Pitzer doesn't compete this weekend, but resumes competition on Saturday, Oct. 30 at the SCIAC Championships to be held at Prado Park in Chino. The men's race begins at 9am.

Crosby Freeman paced the number 20 ranked Sagehens with his ninth place finish at the UC Riverside Invite on Saturday; the Hens finished tied for seventh place out of 13 teams; Freeman's time of 24:57 was a Personal Record.

Women's Cross Country

Overall: 4-3     SCIAC: 4-3

Pomona-Pitzer women's cross country team won four meets and lost three Friday afternoon at the SCIAC Multi-Dual meet held at La Mirada Park. By finishing 4-3 in the dual meet season, the Sagehens look to move up in the SCIAC standings at the SCIAC Championships, to be held Saturday, Oct. 30 at Prado Park in Chino. The women's race begins at 9:45am. At La Mirada frosh Kira Donnelly paced the Sagehens with her 8th place finish over the 6000m (3.7 miles) in 24:39.8. Behind Donnelly for Pomona-Pitzer were junior Amy Rapp (11th, 24:53), frosh Erica Nelson (19th, 25:42), senior Ann Prouty (21st, 25:48), and senior Laurel Williams (37th, 27:05).

Pomona-Pitzer's women's cross country squad finished a strong 9th out of 18 teams Saturday at the UC Riverside Invitational. The Sagehens scored 234 points to finish as the third NCAA Division III squad in the meet. Junior Amy Rapp led the Sagehens with her 25th place in 19:29 over the 5000m (3.1 mile) course. Behind Rapp in Pomona-Pitzer's top five were frosh Kira Donnelly (34th, 19:40), frosh Erica Nelson (69th, 20:31), junior Lisa Parrillo (79th, 20:52), and sophomore Karen Ring (90th (21:17). A total of 167 women completed the race.The Sagehens do not compete on October 9, but resume competition on Friday, October 15 at the SCIAC Multi-Dual Meet at La Mirada Park. The SCIAC men's race begins at 5pm, while the women run at 5:45pm.