Box Score Photo by: Tony Leon/ActionWestPhotography.com
WHITTIER, Calif. – The Whittier College Women's Soccer team saw their Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) Post Season Tournament berth slip away Saturday evening as they played to a scoreless draw with Claremont-M-S on Senior Night.
Needing a win or a tie and a Cal Lutheran loss, Whittier got one of two as Cal Lutheran edged La Verne 2-1 to slip into third place in the SCIAC Standings bumping the Purple & Gold out of contention, while Pomona-Pitzer dropped into fourth by just one game over Whittier.
After a comeback year, where Whittier finished 9-5-3, 6-5-3 SCIAC the Poets found themselves outside staring in at the playoffs, which they have been unable to reach in program history. They will look back at the three games that proved crucial, a 1-0 loss to Chapman on the road, a 0-0 draw with Chapman at home, and a 2-2 draw with Occidental on the road, where they led 2-0.
Against the teams earning a trip to the playoffs, Whittier was 3-4-1, going 2-0 against No. 3 Cal Lutheran, 1-1 against No. 4 Pomona-Pitzer, 0-1-1 against No. 2 Claremont-M-S, and 0-2 against No. 1 University of Redlands.
Prior to the game, Head Coach Monica Gerardo recognized her six seniors who were leaving the program, which included Maegan Garcia (Hacienda Heights, Calif.), Sofia Garcia (Bonita, Calif.), Tatiana Carrillo (Hacienda Heights, Calif.), Ashley Stanford (Walnut, Calif.), Kim Ibarra (Whittier, Calif.), and three time All-SCIAC performer Madison Shipherd (Whittier, Calif.).
Whittier looked like they were headed for the berth in the SCIAC Post Season Tournament in the 27th minute when Shipherd was fouled on top of the box. She stepped up and forced Athena keeper Kelly McConnell to come up with a save, which she did but the ball popped out going through her legs and crossing the crease. The head referee called it a goal but the AR signaled saying that a Whittier player pushed a CMS defender into the goalie forcing her to drop the ball negating the goal.
Soon after, Kaela Reisfelt (Beverly Hills, Calif.) would get into the mix taking a shot herself but that wound up being saved by McConnell keeping the game deadlocked at the break.
In the second half, CMS pushed the tempo getting two shots off early with one being wide from Katelyn Faust and the other from Wren Osler being saved by Alexi Cruz (Long Beach, Calif.) who finished with four saves on the evening in her sixth shutout of the season.
Shipherd came down on the Poets next possession and came up with a great look again on a free kick but this time sent it towards McConnell who made the easy save. In the 69th minute, Whittier got back to back looks again from Garcia and Shipherd but both were turned away on a defender block and one going high.
At the 75th minute Whittier had their last look in regulation again coming from Shipherd, but again came up with a shot right at McConnell who came up with another easy save.
In the first OT period, Whittier outshot CMS 2-1, got a corner kick early from Miranda Yzabal (Whittier, Calif.) who fed one in the box for Reisfelt, but her shot would end up being blocked. Leah Kolek (Diamond Bar, Calif.) would get another look on goal soon after making a nice run into the box but hers to would be off the mark as it went wide off her left foot.
In the final ten minutes with playoff implications on the line, Whittier gave it all they had but managed to get just one shot off as CMS' defensive unit stood strong denying the Poets their playoff berth.
Shipherd led the offense with six shots with four being on goal, while Reisfelt collected three. Whittier outshot CMS 12-10 but saw the Athena's hold on for the 5-4 advantage on corner kicks.
The 2015 season comes to a close on Halloween night but the Poets saw themselves go undefeated in non-conference play at 3-0, finished 7-1-2 at home in the friendly confines of the Donald E. Graham Soccer Field, won five straight to open the season, finished with nine wins, which is eight more than they had a year ago, swept Cal Lutheran University for the second time in program history, and had the SCIAC regular season goal leader in Shipherd and one of the top goalies in the conference in Cruz.
