Despite marked improvement in team play by Pomona-Pitzer women’s soccer since the beginning of their season, a 3-0 loss to La Verne on Saturday snapped the Hens’ three-game winning streak and dropped their conference record to 2-5. Two quick goals for the Leopards early in the second half killed Pomona-Pitzer’s momentum and put a win out of reach in a game that was otherwise fought neck-and-neck.

The match-up was the first in the second round of SCIAC competition and was played with brutal physicality and aggression. Eighteen fouls were called between the two teams, twelve of them against La Verne.

The lopsided final score did not reflect what was an evenly paced game; the difference came down to La Verne’s ability to capitalize on their offensive opportunities.

The Hens held La Verne scoreless until the 38th minute when LV’s Nancy Santana blasted a long penalty kick past P-P goalie Ashley Thompson ’03 and into the upper right corner of the cage. Torrey Shelton ’02 set up several opportunities for the Hens to score on corner kicks, but the team was unable to finish. With eight minutes left in the first half, Shelton took a corner and planted the ball right in front of an empty LV cage, but no one was there to complete the play.

At halftime, the match-up looked to be a close one, but in a span of three minutes, two goals squelched any Sagehen hopes of pulling out a victory. In the 55th minute, goalie Alison Mathes ’05 was helpless to stop Giselle Ortega from powering the ball into the lower left corner of the net off a pass from Adrianna Ramirez. Only minutes later, Ramirez had another perfectly placed assist to her teammate Heather Cooper for a goal in the 58th. Thompson replaced Mathes in the goal at the 61st minute, but the damage was already done.

"It’s a different game when you’re down by three goals than when you’re down by one," commented assistant coach Emily Doerner ’00. "When you need four goals to win, it drops your morale."

The three goal deficit left the Hens clearly discouraged, and a solid wall of La Verne defense had P-P struggling for effective shot attempts. Shelton, Taylor Matheson ’02 and Susan Houge ’02 were all over the field making plays and beating the Leopards to the ball, but lasting determination on the part of the seniors was not enough to bridge the gap in the score.

Cora Fornsten ’04 and Sarah Staller ’04 fought for several close shots at the La Verne goal, but frustration was evident in their body language. A collision with the La Verne goalie that had Houge limping off the field and permanently out of the game was the final straw.

"We just weren’t able to capitalize on our opportunities," said assistant coach Erin Karney. "We weren’t hungry enough."

Saturday’s shutout was not nearly as painful as Pomona-Pitzer’s 3-1 loss to La Verne in the first round. In their first meeting, the Hens had 18 shots on goal compared to the Leopards’ 20, and took 7 corner kicks, compared to La Verne’s 3. "The score doesn’t reflect how we played," Doerner stated. "We played a lot better."

With upcoming games against CMS, Cal Lu and Redlands, the Hens schedule won’t be getting any easier. Pomona-Pitzer, with a track record of second round recovery, needs to win the rest of its games to contend for at least a third place ranking in SCIAC.

"We need to shake off the loss and focus on organization, communication and finishing," said Doerner.

Added Karney, "We’re not worried, we just have some housecleaning to do."