By Natalie Smith
Sports Writer

The outcome of Friday’s men’s soccer game was apparent after just five minutes of play. Pomoona-Pitzer had found Rutgers’ weaknesses and was ready to pounce. Very early in the game, the team showed they had come to win. In the fourth minute of play, the P-P attackers chipped a centering shot toward the goal. The goalie bobbled the ball and the Sagehens took advantage of the opening. Wyatt Wells ’03 swooped in and put the ball into the back of the net.
The Sagehens continued to control play despite a few defensive breakdowns, strong play and communication from goalie Jay Schneider ’04 kept all threats at bay. However, crosses from outside were the key to the Sagehens’ success against Rutgers. P-P continued to overpower the Rutgers team as scoring machine Matt Lee-Ashley ’04 rebounded a deflected shot and swiftly kicked it past the outstretched fingers of the Rutgers goalie.
The Sagehen scoring remained strong after the half as the Rutgers defense was thoroughly outmatched by the P-P strikers. Lee-Ashley again took advantage of a misplay by the Rutgers goalie. An attempted punch-out by the Rutgers goalie deflected high in the air and was intercepted by Lee-Ashley. He took a quick dribble and fired it in the empty net near the seventieth minute.
The Sagehens received an additional boost when a Rutgers player received a red card and was ejected from the game after arguing over a foul with the referee. With the game securely in the Sagehens’ hands, more of the P-P bench players received some valuable game experience. Not satisfied with a mere 3-0 win, the Sagehens continued to move the ball upfield. In the eightieth minute the Sagehens received a free kick from the left side of the field. Netza Bravo ’04 confidently arced the ball into the top-left corner of the goal, sealing the victory for the Sagehens. For P-P, all the games should end so happily.
The Hens use early season contests like the Rutgers game to build momentum and work out off-season kinks before entering competition against their SCIAC rivals . Although they have a 2-2 record after the Rutgers game, the losses were incurred against Division II UC San Diego in a closely fought 2-1 game, and in a second half meltdown, resulting in a 4-1 loss to visiting Vanguard. They dominated play over their first win against Webster, even though the score was only 1-0.
The team seems to be coming together as they ready themselves for their first SCIAC game on Saturday, at Whittier. Ending last year in third place in the SCIAC standings, the Sagehens will try to continue to improve upon their success last season. With a whole week to prepare for their first conference game, the Sagehens are in a good position to start off with a win.