September 3, 2011

Poets lose home opener 3-2 to Marymount

Photo by: Tony Leon/ActionWestPhotography.com

Whittier, Calif. – The Whittier College women's soccer team opened up their 2011 season hosting the Mariners of Marymount College in front of a fan base of almost 200 people.  The end result being a 3-2 loss that came down to the final minutes. 

There was much anticipation as Monica Gerardo made her Whittier College coaching debut and it was a nail biter as three yellow cards were issued, while both the Poets and Mariners fought for the lead throughout the game. 

Freshman Madison Shipherd got the scoring started as she tapped in a corner kick in the final minutes of the first half that sparked major controversy on the Marymount sideline.  The original call was offsides by the Poets but after much deliberation the officials called it a goal saying that the ball had already crossed the goal line.

That put the Poets up 1-0 going into intermission.

The Mariners came out fired up in the second half and got an early goal from McKenna Reiser at the 42 minute mark that was fed by Paige Conti to tie the game up at one apiece.

The purple and gold had a golden opportunity to go up 2-1 early in the second half as the goalie for Marymount got pulled out leaving a whole goal wide open but as senior Shelly Johiro took the shot, a Mariner defender came and deflected the ball off the post and out of harms way.  

A few minutes later Marymount then took the lead on an unassisted goal by Jenna Fisher who bent in a corner kick to put the Mariners up 2-1 with 30 minutes left to play.  With this goal tempers began to flare and yellow cards were issued to Whittier's Allison Calabrese and Marymount's Ariel Meadows.    

With the dispute senior Chelsea Irha began to take control as she answered back with a goal of her own that was assisted by Calabrese to tie the game up at two a piece with just under 12 minutes to play.

But yet again Marymount answered with a goal of their own as Kiri Christiansen knocked in a goal off of a cross that came from Stephanie Luna.  With this goal, the Mariners went up 3-2 and took a lead that they wouldn't relinquish. 

In the final minutes, the Poets had three good looks at the goal but were unable to connect falling to 0-1 on the season. 

The purple and gold continue their homestand as they are in action against the Eagles of Biola on Wednesday September 7 beginning at 7pm.