WHITTIER, Calif. - It was
freshman Lauren Bibby who shined for the Whittier
College women's lacrosse team on Senior Night as her goal with 16
seconds left in the second half sent the game to overtime. The
Poets controlled the extra time as they outscored the University of
Redlands 3-1 en route to the 14-12 overtime win on Monday evening.
Bibby recorded a game-high five goals which gives her 19 in the
past three games. She finished the season with a team-high 44
points on 32 goals and 12 assists.
The Poets (8-6) trailed early as Redlands (6-7) scored the first
four goals of the game. Mary Shepherd tallied a goal just 55
seconds into the contest and the Bulldogs scored its last goal of
its run at the 18:21 mark to take an early 4-0 advantage.
Whittier ended the run on Bibby's first score of the game at the
16:15 mark. Redlands answered on its next possession to increase
its lead back to four goals at 5-1 but the Poets ended the half on
a 3-1 run to go into halftime down 6-4.
Bibby had her hand in all four of Whittier's first half goals.
She scored three goals and assisted on Trillium
Santin's goal at the 4:00 mark.
The Poets cut the lead to one goal just 1:13 into the second
half but Redlands scored the game's next two goals over a four
minute span. Bibby scored the opening goal of the half and was held
scoreless for the next 28:31.
The Bulldogs led 8-5 with 23:19 to play in the game but Whittier
ran off three straight goals to tie the score at 8-8. The final
goal of the three-goal run was scored by Santin who tallied the
only free-position shot for the purple and gold.
Whittier finished the game 1-of-13 on FPS.
Redlands retook the lead at 10:54 but back-to-back Poet goals
gave Whittier its first lead of the game with 6:52 to play in the
half. Sherise Varga scored on a Santin pass to
give WC a 10-9 lead. Alex Holtz tied the game at
9-9 with her score at 8:38. Santin registered an assist on that
goal as well.
Redlands tied the score once again on a FPS shot at 3:01 and
took the lead with its goal at the 1:39 mark but Bibby returned to
the limelight with her game-tying goal with 16 ticks left in the
game.
Whittier scored two goals in the first overtime as Emily
Mukai and Ana Garcia gave WC a 13-11
lead. The two teams traded scores in the second overtime as Holtz
put the finishing touches on the Whittier win with her insurance
goal with 47 seconds left.
Redlands goalie Katrina Hostak made 20 saves in the loss.
Conny Joel stopped eight shots for Whittier.
This is the first time in program history that WC has finished
the year with a winning record.
