Photo by: Tony Leon/ActionWestPhotography.com
LOS ANGELES – It was a disappointing ending to the 2011 season as for the second time in as many outings the Whittier women's lacrosse team dropped a one-goal decision to conference foe Occidental.
The Tigers scored with 11 seconds left in Wednesday conference tournament first round game and won the ensuing draw to claim the 18-17 win. With the victory, Occidental advances to Saturday's SCIAC semifinal against top-seeded Claremont-M-S.
The sensational freshman season of Shaina Denny ended with a six-goal effort while sophomore standout Carolyn Mukai added six of her own points on four goals and two assists.
The Poets (6-12) made a furious rally to overcome a 12-7 halftime debt by scoring eight of the first nine goals of the second stanza to turn their five-point deficit into a 15-13 lead with 11:57 left in the game.
Following Denny's goal to cap a 6-0 run for the Poets, Occidental reclaimed the lead with a four-goal spurt over the next six minutes. The latter put the Tigers ahead 17-15 but the lead was short lived. Whittier battled back to score consecutive goals at 5:15 and 2:34, respectively, to knot the score at 17.
Both goals came from Dana Barraco who finished with a hat trick.
After the second of two straight Barraco goals, Occidental won the draw and patiently waited for its opportunity to find the game winner.
The Poets won 10-of-17 second half draws but lost the final two of the game which proved pivotal. For the game, Occidental held a 20-16 advantage on draws.
Mukai and Katie Clinnin each had a team-high three.
The Poets were outshot 32-29 for the game but outshot OXY 16-8 in the second stanza.
Clinnin added three ground balls as did Amiya Moretta who finished with a team-high three caused turnovers.
Conny Joel made six saves in the loss, all coming in the first half.
The first half was highlighted by a 6-0 run from Occidental that put the Tigers up 11-6. Mukai ended the run at the 1:18 mark on an unassisted goal but Sarah Kessler scored in the waning seconds to close the half.
Moretta had three goals and Clinnin scored one.
