Having lost their three previous league matches, the Pomona-Pitzer women’s soccer team headed into their Wednesday afternoon match against Cal Lutheran with a SCIAC league record of 2-7. For a win against Cal Lutheran, the Sagehens would have to play better than they had in recent games. Against La Verne, CMS and Redlands, the team had been outscored by a combined 8-1, a stat made even more impressive when you consider that the Sagehens’ lone goal was scored by Izzy Smith ’05 with just six minutes left in the Redlands game. That means that the Sagehens had been held scoreless for almost three straight games.

Cal Lu controlled the first half of Wednesday’s game, but the play of Sagehen keeper Ashley Thompson ’03 kept her team from falling behind too early. She made three huge stops in the beginning of the first half: one on a cross by Cal Lu’s #25 that was almost headed in, another in which she was forced to slide tackle the ball away from a Cal Lu attacker, and a third in which she managed to get in front of a great shot by Cal Lu’s freshman Michelle Chandler.

Unfortunately, Pomona-Pitzer’s offense was unable to assert itself at all in the first half. The constant offensive pressure by Cal Lu led to the game’s first goal with nineteen minutes to play in the first half. Chandler managed to get the ball in front after the Sagehen defense was unable to clear two consecutive shots. Thompson had little chance to stop the powerful shot from fifteen feet out.

The story of the first half was Pomona-Pitzer’s inability to create any sort of offense. While Cal Lu combined precision passing with the ability to beat Sagehen defenders one-on-one, the Sagehens seemed unable to put two passes together. The team seemed to lack any sort of offensive teamwork. Most of the game was played in Pomona-Pitzer’s half. The few times that they did manage to advance the ball, they were unable to get off quality shots. In fact, in the first half, Cal Lu had more goals than the Sagehens had shots.

Cal Lu’s second goal was scored by senior Leilani Green, who tucked the ball in the top of the net with 7:40 to play in the first half. Cal Lu’s third goal was scored by #25, who scored from just outside the box with three minutes to play in the first half. Just one minute later, Cal Lu’s Chandler scored again and made the score 4-0.

The half ended with Cal Lu holding this commanding 4-0 lead.

In the second half, Pomona-Pitzer Coach Eli Koenn-Bollinger decided to change her team’s offensive formation. In the first half the team had played with three players up front, but at a team meeting during half-time, players and coaches decided that this formation gave Cal Lu too much offensive strength in the middle. So Koenn-Bollinger decided to drop one forward back and have just two up front.

It would seem like a team down 4-0 would want more offensive firepower, but apparently Pomona-Pitzer’s coaches felt it left them too vulnerable.

In the second half the teams were on a more equal playing field. The Sagehens’ strategy worked well: they stopped the Regents from scoring. But they were also unable to score themselves. Lauren Seville ’03 played well for the Sagehens on the left side, and Torrey Shelton ’02 was solid on the right side. Late in the second half, Koenn-Bollinger changed her formation again, bringing the third forward back up. The change created a lot more shot opportunities for the Sagehens, but they were still shutout by the strong defense of Cal Lu.

It was a demoralizing loss for the Sagehens, who seem to have fallen apart in the last couple of games. "The last few games have been tough," said Forward Aliza Norwood ’05. "We haven’t had much offense at all."

The team now looks ahead to games against Chapman, Occidental and Whittier. Chapman is a non-conference away game for the Sagehens. The last two games on the schedule (both SCIAC contests) give Pomona-Pitzer a chance to end the season on a positive note.

At press time, Occidental was 0-9 and had scored just six goals the entire season. Pomona-Pitzer has already defeated Occidental 3-1 on September 29. The Whittier game presents another possible win for the Sagehens. The first game against the Poets was one of the most exciting games of the year. In that game, the Sagehens fought back from a 1-0 deficit to tie the game in regulation. A Norwood goal in overtime won the game for the Sagehens. Unfortunately, the team was unable to carry the momentum into their following match against La Verne.