Athenas mishandle Sagehens in SCIAC opener

CLAREMONT, Calif. – The Claremont-Mudd-Scripps women's soccer team have dropped their third game in a row after a hard 3-2 loss to their cross-town rival Pomona-Pitzer (3-1-0, 1-0-0). The Athenas (2-4-0, 0-1-0) looked sharp on the offensive side of the ball, resulting in goals from freshman Sarah Tocher (CMC) and senior Katelyn Faust (CMC), her fourth of the season, but several lapses on the defensive end gave the Sagehens the victory. Katie Barsher and Peri Cuppins scored for Pomona, while Katie Tao had the game-winning goal as well as the assist.  

In the 14th minute, Katie Tao delivered a corner kick into the box that was deflected off a CMS defender. Barsher saw the deflection from outside the box and volleyed it with her right foot past the diving senior Kelly McConnell (CMC) for the opening goal.

The Athenas responded in the 22nd minute to level the game. Sophomore Maddie Peterson (SC) ran the ball from the left wing on the counter attack and looked for Tocher, who was racing down the middle, with a cross. The ball deflected off a Pomona defender and into the feet of Tocher who was outside the box. The forward turned and found space from the edge of the box to deliver a curling shot past the keeper to tie the game 1-1.

The Sagehens retook the lead in the 43^rd minute when a soft clearance from junior Wren Osler (SC) ended up in the feet of Peri Cuppens who got past Osler on her first touch. Cuppens dribbled to the top right edge of the box and delivered a looping shot to the top left of the net for the 2-1 lead.

Five minutes into the second half, Faust put on a beautiful display of technique to score the equalizer. Receiving the ball in the right side of the box, Faust maneuvered past her first defender to get towards the center of the box. With Pomona defender Molly Mosher closing in on her, Faust shook off her defender with a shot fake, and slotted the ball into the open net.

Unfortunately the tie was short-lived when a handball by sophomore Sarah Malott (CMC) inside the box gave the Sagehens a penalty kick at the 55^th minute. Katie Tao punched the shot into the right side of the net as ease to give Pomona-Pitzer a 3-2 lead.

CMS almost came close to equalizing again in the 85^th minute when Laube found Faust on the free kick, but the forward's shot was deflected off the keeper. Tocher saw the deflection in the box and tried to get a shot off, but her attempt was blocked by the keeper before she was called for a foul. The Athenas struggled to find another opportunity in the final minutes.

"I thought we came a little slow in the opening half. We were slow to get in rhythm, slow to apply pressure," head coach Keri Sanchez said. "We had several defensive mistakes that led to two of their goals. But in the second half, we generated on the attack, but we couldn't get it on the frame. I like what I saw, but we need to learn how to get the job done."

The Athenas will look for their first win in conference play this Saturday, Sept. 17 as they host Cal Lutheran at 7 p.m.  

By Young Kim
Sports Information Assistant

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