Photo by: Tony Leon/ActionWestPhotography.com
LOS ANGELES – Shaina Denny scored 11 goals and Carolyn Mukai dished out seven assists as the Whittier women's lacrosse team snapped its two-game skid with a 19-13 win over Occidental Wednesday evening.
The low scoring first half that saw a combined eight goals gave way to a monster second stanza as the Poets (6-6, 2-3 SCIAC) outscored the Tigers 14-10 en route to the six-goal win.
Denny scored three of her game-high 11 goals in the first frame which include back-to-back scoring strikes at 7:24 and 4:58, respectively, to give WC a 4-3 advantage.
Occidental trimmed the Whittier led to 5-4 with a goal 29 seconds into the start of the second frame but a four-goal run by the purple and gold pushed its lead to 9-4. Denny scored three of the four goals while Raquel Damti added a goal on a feed from Mukai.
Three straight goals by Occidental was answered by a 5-2 run from the Poets. Denny and Damti started the surge while Dana Barraco sandwiched a goal between a pair of Tiger goals. Damit and Denny added scores at 11:27 and 10:19 to put WC up 14-9.
The Tigers got as close as three goals in the final six minutes but that proved as close as they would get. Denny scored two of the final three goals in the final 3:05 to seal the victory.
Mukai finished with eight draw controls and one ground ball. Denny had five draws and finished 11 of her 15 shots.
Conny Joel made eight saves in the win.
Whittier returns to action on Friday evening as they face Sewanee, in Tennessee, at 2 pm (PST).
