Men's Soccer Wallops Whittier 11-1 in SCIAC Opener, Prepares for Match Against CMS
By Drew Perrault
Sports Writer

The Pomona-Pitzer men’s soccer team has faced off against Whittier College in seasons past, and, in the words of Matthew Lee-Ashley ’04, they are “a very tough team to beat on their own field.” With this in mind, the Sagehens remained cautiously optimistic as they took the field on Saturday, but no one could possibly have anticipated the astonishing 11-1 blowout that followed.
The P-P men’s team looks particularly strong as they head into their season. Most of their experienced players have returned and they have gained significant new talent in their freshmen. The team has also benefited from a workshop in England prior to the preseason. Head Coach Bill Swartz organized the trip so the P-P team could be trained by and work with professionals. Whatever the source of their skill, the Hens’ ball-handling virtuosity was obvious to all on the field Saturday.

Both teams fought extremely hard during the first half of the game, giving little hint of the eventual outcome. The P-P offense continually pressed Whittier, giving them little opportunity to control the game. The defense also played well and deflected several Whittier attempts on the goal. At the half time whistle, the Sagehens had managed to build a solid, but by no means definitive, lead of 2-0. Richard Cannon ’05, a midfielder, pointed out that this score “shows how competitive the first half was.”

As play resumed for the second half, the game was still open-ended, but only a few minutes later, the P-P offense scored its third goal.

Not willing to be defeated, Whittier gained control of the ball and drove down the field. Managing to elude the Hens’ defense, the Whittier players closed on the goal, and with a burst of energy, scored their one and only point of the game.

Still, with a lead of 3-1, P-P allowed no more room for error and mounted a withering attack, netting two goals in the span of fewer than five minutes. After these points, the Whittier team was visibly deflated, realizing they would be unable to make up the difference.

The Sagehens did not rest with their commanding lead, but continued to press forward. Evading the Whittier defense with ease, P-P scored an amazing six more times before the end of the second half.

This was certainly an encouraging outcome for the first league game of the season. Liam Patrick ’03 commented that the Pomona-Pitzer finish “was superb, and one could see in the second half that our the team has a lot of depth.”

Lee-Ashley agreed, saying that he was “impressed” by Saturday’s performance.

But the Hens remain guarded in their hopes for the remainder of the season. Patrick noted that the game, though a great victory, was not without flaw.

“The most obvious place for improvement is not allowing any goals. We will concentrate on shutouts,” he said.

Although the official season is just beginning, the SCIAC play-offs already loom large in the players’ minds. “Our success is entirely dependent on how much leadership and guts we get out of people this year… It is nice to play beautiful and flashy soccer, but if you do that one day and have a mediocre performance the next, your season is literally over and you are out of the running” Lee-Ashley said.

The soccer team is off to a great start this year, but if they hope to succeed in SCIAC this year, they will have to maintain the same level of excellence over the next fourteen games of the regular season.

P-P was scheduled to play La Verne on Wednesday afternoon, but the game was postponed due to smoky conditions caused by the massive wildfires to the north. Their next match, a home game, is currently scheduled for Saturday, September 28 at 11:00 a.m. against archrival CMS.
After finishing in third place in SCIAC last year, a mere one victory behind CMS, the Sagehens will be desperately looking to showcase their high-power offense, and get an early season victory against their counterparts from above Sixth Street.