WHITTIER, Calif. (Sept. 10, 2023) – Junior striker
Lawrence Dydell (Redmond, Wash. / Woodinville) led the way for a creative Poets offense, which deposited five total goals against Lewis & Clark College on Sunday afternoon to make it a 2-0 week against teams from the Pacific Northwest.
The Poets made use of their athleticism to create passing lanes throughout the game's entirety and beat the Pioneers with superior movement and chance creation. Dydell opened scoring in the 11th minute, completing a successful run off a pass from freshman winger
Nils Degardin. From there, Whittier refused to let up, dominating possession throughout the game, particularly in the first half where they out-shot Lewis & Clark 10-0.
Rowan Slater doubled the Poets' lead 11 minutes later off a nice pass from talented freshman
Kevin Bravo, the star of
Whittier's 2-0 victory over George Fox University on Friday.
Coming out of the break, the Poets were determined to deliver more of the same, but those plans hit a slight snag when the Pioneers took advantage of a slight opening to halve Whittier's lead. However, the tenacious Poets kept the pressure on, and went on to find the back of the net three more times before the referee's final whistle. Dydell created the second-half spark for the home team off a pass from junior midfielder
Jazey Zavala just four minutes after the Poets conceded their only goal of the game. Dydell's second goal of the game would be his third of the weekend as he looks to establish his place among the SCIAC's top striking options.
After the Poets reclaimed their two-goal lead, they continued to pour on the offense with goals from Slater and Degardin rounding things out. Degardin assisted on Slater's second goal of the game in the 73rd minute, while junior
Miguel Vargas assisted on Degardin's goal, the Poets' final of the contest. Junior goalkeeper
Anthony Chavoya was steady when called upon, making one tough save for the Poets to hold Lewis & Clark off the board, save for the team's lone second-half goal.
Head Coach
Shea Harwell and the Poets will be back at Memorial Stadium on Wednesday, Sept. 13 when they host Pomona-Pitzer Colleges in their 2023 SCIAC debut at 7 p.m. Whittier will find itself in nothing but SCIAC competition until it plays the final game of the season against the University of California, Santa Cruz in late October.
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