Women's Lacrosse Gets Tricky in Regular Season Finale

ORANGE, Calif. – The No. 22 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Athenas wrapped up the regular season on Saturday with a 21-2 victory over the Chapman Panthers on the road. CMS spread the scoring around with five different players recording hat tricks on the afternoon and a total of 10 Athenas scoring goals in the game. Corie Hack (CMC), Evan Murphy (CMC), Hannah Graves (CMC), Sally Carlson (CMC), and Sally Abel (CMC) each tallied three goals while Hack and Murphy both added multiple assists.

The 21 goals are the most the Athenas have scored in a game this season, beating their previous high of 20, a mark they have achieved three times this season. Additionally, the two goals allowed is their fewest in a game this year.

The Athenas wasted little time before taking control of the game with four goals in the first four minutes. Corie Hack and Hannah Graves each scored once in the opening minutes and Sally Abel tallied twice to build a 4-0 lead. After Lauren Clubb (CMC) connected off a pass from Allie Hill (CMC) the Athenas led 5-0, but the Panthers scored two of the next three goals in a 50 second span to trim the lead back to four at 6-2.

The two goals would be the only tallies for the Panthers' offense on the afternoon as CMS scored the final 15 goals of the game to earn a 21-2 victory.

Nine goals in the final 16 minutes of the half gave the Athenas a 15-2 advantage heading into the break. Hannah Graves was the only Athena to complete her hat trick in the opening period, scoring back-to-back goals in the final four minutes of the half to notch her second and third goals.

Sally Carlson was second to register her hat trick with a goal just over two minutes into the second-half. During a 15-minute span in the middle of the second-half, Murphy, Hack, and Abel scored consecutively to finish their hat tricks.

CMS scored six unanswered goals in the second-half and cruised to the 21-2 victory in the game.

The Athenas end the regular season on a 16-game winning streak, with an overall record of 16-1, and a mark of 10-0 in the SCIAC. CMS is also undefeated against NCAA Division III opponents this season. In addition to the SCIAC Championship that they locked up last week, the Athenas have earned the top seed in this season's SCIAC Tournament that will begin next Saturday. CMS will play the yet-to-be-determined fourth seeded team on Zinda Field on April 27. The Athenas will find out their opponent following Sunday night's game between Pomona-Pitzer and Redlands.