Photo by: Bill McCarroll/Friends of Whittier Lacrosse

WHITTIER, Calif. – Emily Mukai scored with 32 seconds left in regulation and Lauren Bibby put away her sixth score of the evening in the extra session as the Whittier College women's lacrosse team evened its record to 3-3 in conference play with a 15-14 win over Occidental on Wednesday evening.

The Poets (5-9, 3-3 SCIAC) trailed for the majority of the game and faced a three-goal deficit with 8:51 to play in the game before they ripped off four straight scorers to take a 13-12 lead at the 3:22 mark of the second half.

Bibby started the rally with a free-position goal at 7:07 to trim the lead to 12-10. Sherise Varga pulled the Poets within one as she finished a feed from Carolyn Mukai at the 6:42 mark and Bibby did the same at 5:29 to even things at 12.

The Poets took their first lead of the game with 3:22 remaining on Bibby's second consecutive goal but Occidental (1-11, 0-6 SCIAC) tied the game just 58 seconds. The Tigers needed only 32 seconds to reclaim the lead with a free-position goal at the 1:52 mark.

The Poets won the ensuing draw and Emily Mukai's first attempt at finding the equalizer was turned aside by Occidental goalie Charla Holdren. The Tigers claimed possession after the save but Whittier broke Occidental's clear and got one more possession. This time Emily Mukai score as she cut across the cage and fired back across her body.

Each goalie made two saves in the first three-minute overtime and despite being outshot 2-1 in the second overtime period, the Poets were still able to put the ball in the back of the cage for the game winner.

Occidental won 18 draws to Whittier's 15 and held a slim 33-32 advantage in shots. The Poets had one more ground ball, 26-25, than the Tigers and were 16-of-20 on clear attempts to Occidental's 12-21 effort.

The Poets were only 1-of-9 on free-position shots and faced a 5-3 halftime deficit.

Emily Mukai finished the game with four goals and one assists, Carolyn Mukai had a game-high's in assists (3), ground balls (7) and caused turnovers (5) and Conny Joel made sevens in the win.

The Poets will return to action, as they looks to lock up no worse than third place in the upcoming SCIAC Tournament, on Friday evening against Pomona-Pitzer at 7 pm.