Box Score Photo by: Tony Leon/ActionWestPhotography.com
ORANGE, Calif. – The Whittier College Women's Soccer team fell behind early against Chapman University Saturday morning but managed to come back to pull off the 2-1 road victory.
The Purple & Gold currently ride a three game winning streak as they move to 8-6, 4-6 SCIAC and still remain in the hunt for a Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) Post Season berth.
Shelby Brown put CU on top in the early stages of the game. A cross was punched out by Poet keeper Layla Matar (Glendale, Calif.) but right to the feet of Brown who took a couple touches into the box before connecting to the lower left corner in the 27th minute.
Whittier didn't take long to retaliate though as sophomore Clarissa Field (Saugus, Calif.) would find Miranda Yzabal (Whittier, Calif.) from a free kick from the side of the 18-yard box. On the end of the cross Yzabal would one-time the shot less than a minute after Brown's which would send the game into a 1-1 tie at the break.
In the second half the Poets reversed the shot differential and fired off nine shots to Chapman's four. WC forced CU keeper Maeve O'Connor into a couple of tough save situations early as Andrea Aldama (Gardena, Calif.) and Jazmin Gomez (Norwalk, Calif.) would put two shots on frame.
The Poets' Lauren Kai (Torrance, Calif.) had the first look for the eventual game-winner in the 58th minute when her strike hit the crossbar. Less than a minute later Leah Kolek (Diamond Bar, Calif.) would take a strike from long range but this time Whittier would see it fall as she would hit a floater from 45 yards out, which slipped right underneath the crossbar.
Chapman had an opportunity to knot the game up at 2-2 in the 70th minute from Riley Pidgeon who took a shot from the wing only to see it bounce off the post allowing Whittier to come away with the road victory.
Both teams took 13 shots for the game and combined for three corner kicks. Matar played all 90:00 and finished with three saves. Yzabal led the offense with four shots, while Kolek, Aldama, and Aubrey Baran (La Mirada, Calif.) would each get two off.
Whittier returns home to host the University of La Verne this Wednesday, October 18 beginning at 7:00pm.
