WHITTIER, Calif. (Nov. 4, 2024) – The talented youth of the Whittier College women's soccer team took center stage on Friday night, and helped the fourth-seeded Poets hold off fifth-seeded Chapman University, 2-1, to advance in the SCIAC Postseason Tournament.
Freshmen
Jessica Jensen (Las Vegas, Nev. / Liberty) and
Chloe Crecelius (Long Beach, Calif. / Millikan) came off the bench to do the offensive damage for the home team in front of over 200 raucous fans. Monday's first round meeting was the third of the season between the Poets and Panthers, and second in the last three days.
Both teams came into Monday's contest very familiar with one another, which resulted in the most physical affair between the two teams all season. Within minutes of checking into the game for the first time, Jensen took a beautiful pass from sophomore forward
Madeline Traylor (Covina, Calif. / Charter Oak) and fired a rocket into the back of the net from nearly 25 yards out. The goal put a decent amount of pressure on the Panthers, who began to press in hopes of netting an equalizer. However, the visitors pushed a little too hard just outside the box, setting up a run-around free kick in which junior midfielder
Alanis Cervantes (La Habra, Calif. / La Habra) fired a shot that ricocheted off the opposing keeper and onto the foot of the younger Crecelius sister.
The goal was one of significance; it will go down as Crecelius' first point as a member of the Purple & Gold, and Cervantes' fifth time factoring into a goal against Chapman this year. With Crecelius' goal, the Poets capped a run of eight unanswered goals against the Panthers, and a 4:1 goals-allowed ratio between the three games. Of those eight Whittier goals, half of them came on set pieces, with Monday's insurance goals being no exception.
Chapman halved the deficit late in the game, but the Poets defense persevered amid a physical game in which seven total yellow cards were handed out. Junior defensive midfielder
Samantha Armenta (Huntington Beach, Calif. / Fountain Valley | Cypress College) overcame some early adversity to win a handful of challenges to quell various Chapman runs, and junior goalkeeper
Mya Rodriguez (Visalia, Calif. / El Diamante / College of the Sequoias), the reigning SCIAC Defensive Athlete of the Week for a second time this season, continued to show how much of a difference maker she has been this year with fives saves.
Head Coach
Derek Hanks and the Poets will now turn their attention to Pomona-Pitzer Colleges in the semifinals of the SCIAC Postseason Tournament. The Poets and Sagehens met once this season, with a late Pomona-Pitzer equalizer resulting in the game ending in a 1-1 tie. The game will take place in Claremont, and is slated for a 2 p.m. start time on Wednesday, Nov. 6.
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