Photo by: Tony Leon/ActionWestPhotography.com
WHITTIER, Calif. – The Whittier women's lacrosse team scored a season-low nine goals for the third straight game as Occidental held off a late charge by the Poets to win, 10-9, Wednesday evening at Memorial Stadium.
The Poets (6-11, 2-6 SCIAC) started slow and faced a 7-1 halftime deficit before a four-goal run to open the second stanza pulled the purple and gold within two.
Carolyn Mukai started the second half scoring with a goal at the 29:32 mark and 12 seconds later Amiya Moretta trimmed the deficit to 7-3 with her lone goal of the evening. Shaina Denny took care of the rest as she scored the final six Whittier goals which includes back-to-back scoring strikes at 23:02 and 19:04, respectively, to make the score 7-5.
Occidental (5-9, 2-4 SCIAC) stopped the WC run with a goal from Rebecca Belding at 16:19 but Denny had the answer two minutes later to keep the Poets down by a pair.
Outside of the lopsided first half, the difference came in a matter of 12 seconds when the Tigers scored two straight to take a 10-6 lead. Belding scored at 7:24 to push the Occidental to three and Kessler found the back of the net at 7:12 to make it a four-goal game.
The Poets didn't go quietly as Denny scored at 6:33 and 6:02 to make it 10-8 and later pulled the Poets within one goal at 10-9 with 2:04 left in regulation.
Whittier had its chances to find the equalizer as it won the ensuing draw. Denny drew a foul inside the 8-meter but couldn't cash in on her free-position. Despite the missed opportunity, Raquel Damti picked up the ground ball and saw her attempt miss just wide of the near post.
Occidental gained possession and was able to run out the final 38 seconds.
Denny finished with six goals and one assists (all coming in the second half) while Mukai finished with a pair of scoring strikes. Mukai's first of the game came at the 28:13 mark to answer the Tigers' opening game goal.
Whittier was outshot 14-7 in the first half but held a distinct, 22-8, advantage in the second frame. The Poets won 11-of-21 draws and scooped up one more ground ball than Occidental, 16-15.
Katie Clinnin had a team-high five draws, Moretta had a team-high four ground balls and the two each had a team-high two caused turnovers.
Conny Joel made seven saves in the loss.
Whittier will return to action next week for the SCIAC Postseason Tournament. The first round is scheduled for April 27 with the semifinals and finals set for April 30 and May 1, respectively.
