Goalkeeper Nick Zabriskie '02 had a relatively uneventful day on Wednesday when the Pomona-Pitzer men's soccer team rolled over a sluggish La Verne squad. "I haven't been that bored in the goal box since I was 13 years old," said Zabriskie of the first half, during which he didn't face a single shot on goal. The Hens' stifling defense and continuous offensive onslaught was entirely too much for the Leopards to handle, as Pomona-Pitzer cruised to an easy 3-0 victory.

The Sagehens' first goal came during the second minute of play when Sean Dougherty '01 got tangled up with the La Verne goalie while chasing Jason Magee's '01 cross in the box. Magee shot the ensuing penalty kick off of the keeper and into the back of the net, giving the Hens an early 1-0 lead.

Once the momentum was on their side, the Sagehens dominated the first half of play. Their mode of attack was simple: allow defenders Ian Preikschat '03, Andrew Watkins '03, and An-Yen Hu '04 to control the ball near midfield until they have an opening to clear downfield to a streaking forward, either Dougherty or Joe Amick '04. For 45 minutes the Sagehens' superior speed and accurate passing kept the slower La Verne squad on the defensive. When the Leopards did muster up a rare offensive drive, it usually consisted of no more than a two-man attack into Pomona-Pitzer territory. When this did happen, Preikschat, Watkins, and Hu were there to diffuse the attack before it materialized into anything substantial.

What the Leopards lacked in speed and offensive coordination, they made up for in size. La Verne's physical defense did all it could to bully the smaller Sagehen forwards. In the end, though, Pomona-Pitzer's quickness and adept passing was too much for them to handle. A barrage of crossing passes, lobs, and give-and-goes had the Leopards running in circles to keep up with the Sagehen speedsters. "We passed as well today as we have all year," said Junior Greg Arnold. "The offense played really well today, and made everything come together."

Wednesday's match-up also gave the Hens a chance to show off the depth of their young bench. When freshman Mario Velez went down twenty minutes into the game with a rolled ankle, classmate Matthew Lee-Ashley came off the bench to replace the injured midfielder. He made his presence known in the final minute of the first half when his cross from the corner found Todd Samuelson '03 in the box, who flicked the ball to Watkins "for the shot. Watkins' shot burned by La Verne's confused keeper, and the Hens took a 2-0 lead into halftime.

Feeling confident going into the second half, Pomona removed Zabriskie to allow freshman Jay Schneider time in goal. Though his day was a little more exciting than Zabriskie's, the Hens continued their dominance in the second half. With several of the starters on the bench, the Pomona-Pitzer offence once again kept the Leopardss goalkeeper busy, firing off shot after shot from across the field.

The Sagehens scored their third and final goal midway through the second half, thanks to solid play by Rodolfo Bravo '04 and Jason Magee. After losing his defender with some nifty footwork on the sideline, Bravo chipped a lob that found Magee deep in the box. Magee's header eluded La Verne's keeper and floated into the upper left corner of the net.

After that, Pomona settled into a more defensive set to close out the game. The Leopards had a couple good opportunities to score in the final two minutes, but couldn't capitalize. When the final whistle blew, the Hens walked away with their fourth straight victory.

After suffering several non-conference losses early this season, Wednesday's win brought the Sagehen's SCIAC record to an impressive 5-1. Their only conference loss was to Cal Lutheran, who currently sit atop the SCIAC standings. Tomorrow the Hens face a CMS team that also has hopes of a conference championship. After that Pomona-Pitzer has a rematch with Redlands, and a chance for revenge against Cal Lu.

"Our next three games have huge divisional implications," says Arnold of the upcoming contests. With Pomona-Pitzer, Redlands, CMS, and Cal Lu all bunched together on top of the SCIAC leader board, any of the four teams could easily walk away with the championship. The Sagehens are feeling good going into this next crucial week, and judging by the way they played on Wednesday, they should be.