CMS Women's Lacrosse Falls in Second Round of NCAA Tournament

CLAREMONT, Calif. - The Claremont-Mudd-Scripps women's lacrosse team fell in an early hole and couldn't fight its way back out as it dropped an 18-6 decision to undefeated Pomona-Pitzer in the second round of the NCAA Tournament on Sunday afternoon at the South Athletics Complex.

With the loss, CMS ends its season at 14-6, while qualifying for the NCAA Tournament for its fourth straight season. Pomona-Pitzer improves to 18-0 and moves on to the NCAA Regionals at Tufts next weekend. 

Pomona-Pitzer earned an opening-round bye on the strength of its undefeated regular season and SCIAC title, which came in a tight 15-11 battle with the Athenas last weekend. The bye proved to be helpful, as the Sagehens were able to rest yesterday afternoon, while CMS pulled away from George Fox for a 22-6 win in a game played in 95-degree heat. 

The team with the fresher legs came out on the front foot, as the Sagehens scored six times in the first seven minutes, before Olivia Carey got the Athenas on the board at the 7:37 mark of the first quarter. Pomona-Pitzer answered right back 17 seconds later, though, and CMS was never able to sustain a run to get back into it. 

Carey and Emma Merk each had two goals for CMS, while Catherine Murphy and Bella Lynch added goals as well. A pair of senior defenders had strong games in their final collegiate contests, as Alex Wilson had four caused turnovers, and Maisy Mills added two caused turnovers and three ground balls.

Goalie Holly Shankle came into the game in relief six minutes in and had a strong effort with 11 saves. Fiona Lewis had six goals to lead the Sagehens, with Shoshi Henderson picking up six assists (four of them to Lewis). 

CMS will graduate six seniors off this year's team, including All-SCIAC selections Wilson, Mills, Carey and Alex Futterman, along with Tessa Guerra and Emma Goldfield. Lynch (37 goals), All-SCIAC midfielder Rachel Leonardi (39 goals) and Murphy (32 goals) give CMS a trio of 30-goal scorers to build around, along with the two-way play of midfielder Merk and first-team All-SCIAC selection Emme McMullen, who each scored 24.