Photo by: Tony Leon/ActionWestPhotography.com
ORANGE, Calif. – The Whittier College women's lacrosse team nearly pulled off the upset of the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) Tournament Wednesday night as they dropped a tight 9-8 decision to Chapman University in the Quarterfinals.
The Poets gave Chapman all they could handle at Wilson Field holding a lead throughout before Michelle Mendoza scored the eventual game winner with 7:17 remaining in the second half, adding the Panthers third straight goal and giving them their first lead since the 2-1 mark in the first half.
Whittier (2-14, 0-11 SCIAC) led for most of the second half capturing its first lead at 3-2 with 10:27 to play in the first on a goal by Meesha Robinson (Redondo Beach, Calif.) and Taylor Pool (Manhattan Beach, Calif.) would answer soon after with a goal of her own to build a two goal advantage, which WC would hold onto for the next 30 minutes.
During this span, freshman Angelina Cuevas (Long Beach, Calif.) connected for her first of the game coming on a free position that again gave the Poets a two goal lead 5-3 but with :48 seconds left in the first stanza Chapman would pull within one getting a free position goal from Becka Wachtel that made the score 5-4 at the break.
Rebekah Delledera (Livermore, Calif.) struck quickly out of the half with one of her team high three goals on the evening that pushed the lead back to two and would add another three minutes later that kept the Purple & Gold out in front, but over the ensuing 12:59, Chapman would go on a 3-0 run with goals from Brooke Martini, Gretchen Rodenberger, and Mendoza that sent them to the come from behind victory.
Senior Nicole Yorba (Poway, Calif.) kept the Chapman offensive attack in check most of the game making 12 saves, which included eight in the first half alone.
Delledera had a game finishing with three goals, a groundball, three draw controls, and a caused turnover. Cuevas had a goal and two assist, while Robinson had two goals and a caused turnover.
