Photo: Tony Leon/ActionWestPhotography.com

WHITTIER, Calif. (Oct. 9, 2021) – The Whittier College women's soccer team put its toughness on full display by scoring three unanswered goals to complete a comeback against Caltech on Saturday night at Memorial Stadium.

The first 16 minutes of the game featured both teams defending each other well with neither side looking to give an inch. However, the game took a turn in the 16th minute after the Beavers converted on a corner kick that resulted in a chance right in front of the Poets' net. From there, the home team opened up its attack and challenged the Beavers throughout the remainder of the first half. While Whittier would need to wait until the second half to tie the game, the quantity and quality of chances to close the half would foreshadow the rest of the game to follow. Freshman Layla Traylor (Covina, Calif. / Oak) created a prime opportunity with one minute on the clock before the break, and would later score the go-ahead goal.

Junior Mackenzie Reed (Miliani, Hawaii / Miliani) scored the game-tying goal nearly five minutes into the second half with classmate Michelle Abarca (Long Beach, Calif. / Artesia) delivering the assisting pass off a hard shot that bounced off the opposing keeper.

"We had just started the second half, and we all knew we did not want to lose the game," Reed said. "Michelle had a good shot on goal, and eventually the ball bounced right to me. Once I saw the ball, I one-timed it straight into the net. My team and the crowd went crazy, and it was at this moment I knew we were going to win the game."

The Poets continued knocking on the door throughout the second half, and would soon hit paydirt again. Traylor used her speed, which became an increasing problem for the Caltech defense to skirt just far enough past the center back to fire a shot that bounced into the goal off the top of the crossbar.

"I just had the mindset to 'score score score,'" Traylor said. "When I anticipated that the girl was passing back to her defender, I knew to cut the ball off and get my shot in. It felt awesome to finally score at such a crucial time in the game and be in the lead."

From there, the Whittier defense did its job by limiting Caltech's opportunities to test senior goalkeeper Vanessa Martinez (La Mirada, Calif. / Fullerton). The senior had all three of her saves in the second half, with two of the three coming with a lead to protect. The Poets would put a stamp on the victory when Reed nabbed her second goal of the game on a total effort play in the 89th minute. A swift move had Reed one-on-one with the keeper, and the junior made the most of her opportunity to give Whittier its first come-from-behind win of the season. The second half pressure paid dividends as the Poets outshot themselves 11-3 between the second and first halves. Meanwhile, 11 of the Poets' 14 total shots found a path to the net.

"I feel like this comeback game was a very important lesson for us," Reed said. "Tonight showed us that anything is possible if we want it bad enough. We have a really good team this year, and if we are able to keep our heads up and play with passion in games, we could easily beat any team in the conference. We have the skill, we have the players, we just need to believe in ourselves and realize how good we really are. We could win any game we want if we put our minds to it, and play the way we know how to play."

Reed, Traylor and the Poets will attempt to make it two consecutive wins when they travel to first-place Pomona-Pitzer Colleges on Wednesday, Oct. 13.

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