Sagehen sports fans demoralized by the Pomona-Pitzer football squad’s recent losing streak might be looking to water polo, cross-country, or women’s soccer to refresh their depleted school spirit. However, they would be sorely disappointed with that last option, as the Sagehen’s women’s soccer team has been even less successful than football so far this season. California Lutheran defeated our women 6-2 last Saturday at Thousand Oaks, California, giving the Sagehens their fourth straight SCIAC loss. This loss came directly on the heels of a 6-1 home loss to the University of Redlands last Thursday.

Despite the series of conference losses and the unimpressive 2-6 overall record, head coach Eli Koenn-Bollinger remains hopeful for the rest of the season. "These losses don’t reflect how much we have improved as a team," she commented. "We’ve really developed our communication skills, and we’ve been able to capitalize on our opponents’ breakdowns." Integral to this improvement, according to Koenn-Bollinger, have been the team’s seniors, Torrey Shelton, Taylor Matheson, Jo Kirsch, and Susan Houge, considered by Koenn-Bollinger to be "excellent leaders on the field."

The Hens started out strong in the game against California Lutheran, getting a goal from Sarah Staller ’04, off an assist by Torrey Shelton ’02, in the 32nd minute to bring Pomona-Pitzer within a goal of the Regals. That was followed, however, by 4 unanswered goals from the Regals. The Hens began to come back in the second half, with Staller putting another ball in the net, Maggie Curnutte ’05 assisting, but at that point, it was too little too late.

Despite Saturday’s result, the team saw it as an improvement over past losses. Sarah Staller ’04 commented, " It was the first game which we really played as a team. We were a lot more confident out there. We’ve had some problems coming together as a team, since we had basically no preseason, but things are changing. This team has the skills to beat any team in the league."

The match against Redlands followed a pattern similar to the Cal Lutheran loss with the Bulldogs gaining a 5-0 lead before the half. The Sagehens’ only goal came from Allison Mathes ’05 at the 54th minute, but that was soon followed by another Bulldog goal. Interestingly, the Sagehens have been playing better soccer later in their games, taking advantage of their opponents’ fatigue and keeping the score even in the second halves of their last two losses.

When asked in what aspect the team needed the most work, Koenn-Bollinger said "not specifically in offense or defense, but in the transition play."

The immediate future looks more promising for the Sagehens. This Thursday, the team will take a break from conference play and confront Cornell College here at Pomona. Although the Cornell Rams boast a winning 5-4 record, the Iowa Conference in which they compete is less competitive than the very strong SCIAC, according to Koenn-Bollinger. She views this game as an excellent opportunity for a win and, perhaps, a turning point for the season.

Following the Cornell game, Pomona-Pitzer takes on Occidental and Whittier, of which Staller said "I’m sure we’ll beat them badly." After that, the Hens begin their second round of conference play. Koenn-Bollinger is looking forward to playing the conference teams that Pomona-Pitzer has already lost to this season. "A lot of these teams will be taking us for granted later in the season," she said. "We’ll have a good chance of coming back and taking them by surprise."