Photo: Tony Leon/ActionWestPhotography.com

WHITTIER, Calif. (Oct. 13, 2021) – A late blitz in the midnight hour of Wednesday's SCIAC men's soccer game saw Whittier College come inches away from pushing Pomona-Pitzer Colleges into extra time.

The Poets generated four shots over the final five minutes, with their desperate attempts to tie the game nearly paying off. Sophomore Tommy Yarbrough (Encinitas, Calif. / La Costa Canyon) found success along the wing and created an opportunity to tie the game late simply by being in the right place at the right time. Classmate Nainoa Loschky (Bellevue, Wash. / Interlake) got an open look at the net when the Sagehens' defense bit down around their keeper, and the ensuing save set things up nicely for Yarbrough waiting in front of the net. The shot, however, ricocheted off the post, forcing the home team to regroup over the final two minutes in an attempt to make one final run at extending the game.

Although both teams would go on to combine for more than 20 shots on goal, the defenses held firm for the first half and beyond. Pomona-Pitzer would not break through until the 57th minute, at which point the Poets began to shift their focus. Yarbrough, who had two of his shots on goal (not including his shot on the post) following the Sagehens' goal, proved to be an offensive focal point for the Poets, as did senior Daniel Hayes (Chicago, Ill. Northfield Mount Hermon) and freshman Jackson Busby (Lake Stevens, Wash. / Lake Stevens), who each came up to put two shots on the opposing keeper. Meanwhile, junior goalkeeper Teddy Nickerson (Seattle, Wash. / O'Dea) had a season-high with 10 saves, all of which helped keep the Poets in the game to the final whistle.

Head Coach Shea Harwell and the Poets will look to get back into the win column when they host first-place Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges (9-1-2, 7-0-1 SCIAC) on Saturday, Oct. 16 at 1 p.m.

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