CMS Women's Lacrosse Falls in Overtime to No. 10 Pomona-Pitzer

CLAREMONT, Calif. - The Claremont-Mudd-Scripps women's lacrosse team led 11-8 in the fourth quarter, but No. 10 Pomona-Pitzer was able to tie it with eight seconds left in regulation and then win it at the buzzer in overtime to come away with a hard-fought 12-11 win on Wednesday evening.

Pomona-Pitzer improves to 13-1 overall and remains unbeaten in the SCIAC at 10-0, while CMS falls to 10-4 overall and 8-2 in the league. 

The last time Pomona-Pitzer hosted CMS was in the SCIAC Championship a year ago, which ended in a 13-12 final after neither team scored in the fourth quarter. The Athenas once again went toe-to-toe with the Sagehens on the road, and with the teams likely meeting again at Pomona-Pitzer in the SCIAC Championship in two weeks, CMS will be able to come away knowing that a rematch could go either way. 

CMS was close to coming away the victory, as Taylor Daetz scored with 11:38 remaining to put the Athenas ahead 11-8. Pomona-Pitzer crept back within 11-10 with 7:59 left and the score held there until the final minute. CMS earned possession with a chance to kill off almost the entire game clock, but Pomona-Pitzer was able to force a turnover, and CMS was given a yellow card on the ensuing challenge. 

With an extra attacker, Pomona-Pitzer called a timeout, and River Buechner scored as she fell to the ground in front of the cage with eight seconds left to send the game into overtime. 

Pomona-Pitzer won the draw, but Stella Hansot had a big defensive play to break up a potential winning shot attempt in front of the cage, and goalie Kendall Chapko pulled in the ground ball. The Athenas turned it over in the offensive end before getting off a potential game-winning shot, and the Sagehens called time out with the shot clock off.

The Athenas defended the initial Sagehen attack well, but as the clock was just about ready to expire, Taylor Glanville flipped the ball in front of the net from behind the cage, and Grace Warner was able to catch and finish in one motion to end it. 

Pomona-Pitzer began the game by taking a 3-0 lead just over three minutes in, but CMS went on a sustained 7-0 run to go ahead by four goals. Grace Minturn and Catherine Murphy scored 39 seconds apart to make it 3-2. Julia Ryan then tied it, and Cate Lewison won the ensuing draw control and scored 13 seconds later to put CMS ahead 4-3 at the 6:55 mark of the first quarter. 

Daetz followed with her first goal and Murphy scored her second to make it 6-3 at the end of the first, and Minturn opened the second quarter with a goal 29 seconds in to make it 7-3. The Sagehens, though, scored the next four goals to tie it heading into the break. 

Paige Morgan and Lewison scored the first two goals of the third quarter, but Sydney Landauer scored the first of two buzzer-beaters for the Sagehens on a free position shot to make it 9-8 heading into the fourth. 

Lewison, Minturn, Daetz, Murphy and Morgan each had two goals, while Ryan added one. Minturn and Daetz each had three caused turnovers, while Morgan had a team-high five ground balls. 

CMS will be back in action on Sunday when it travels to Chicago for an 11 a.m. contest local time (9 a.m. Pacific).