P-P Soccer Falls to SCIAC Adversary
By Joey Richards
Sports Writer

Looking for an upturn in morale after tough losses to CMS and Redlands, the Pomona-Pitzer men's soccer team continued its slide this week with a pair of 2-1 home losses.

On Saturday, October 5, P-P fell to SCIAC foe Cal Lutheran and to non-conference opponent Chapman on Monday, October 7. The 'Hens then defeated historically weak Caltech 4-0 Wednesday. Their record now stands at 4-6 overall and 2-3 in SCIAC.

"The whole team has been in a funk since losing so many important games in a row," said forward Scott Coleman '05. P-P's games against Cal Lu and Chapman were basically mirror images of one another. In each game, the Sagehens scored first and took a 1-0 lead into halftime before surrendering two goals in the second half.

Against Cal Lu, defenseman Alex Pickrell '05 opened the scoring. On a Sagehen attack, the ball popped back out toward midfield where Pickrell promptly took control of the ball and blasted a shot into the back of the net from 35 yards out.

In the second half, the Kingsmen would tie the score on a fine individual effort by one of their forwards, and later notch the game-winner off of a Pomona-Pitzer turnover at midfield.

Monday's game versus Chapman was not much prettier for the 'Hens. Coleman scored the only P-P goal early in the first half. He was assisted with a throw in by midfielder Richard Cannon '05. Coleman took possession of the ball and turned inside, blasting the ball off the goalie's hands and into the net.

Chapman responded with two second-half goals, the first coming off of a turnover at midfield and the other on a 12-yard header.

"We simply gave up the ball too much and didn't finish our opportunities. These have been problems in general for the majority of the season," said Coleman.

P-P started the match with an entirely new formation in the Chapman game, in an attempt to jump-start the offense and promote better ball control.

Instead of the 4-4-2 formation the squad had employed in every other game, head coach Bill Swartz brought defender An-Yen Hu '04 up to the midfield to form a 3-5-2 attack.

"We have been having a lot of costly turnovers in the midfield. This new strategy was used to try to prevent that," Coleman said.

The new formation seemed to work like clockwork, as P-P took a 1-0 lead, and dictated the pace of play.

Then, thirty minutes into the match, Swartz switched back to the 4-4-2 set to strengthen the defense and try to hold onto the lead.

"I like the 4-4-2 better because it's a little safer and better defensively. The 3-5-2 helped us in the midfield, but it's a lot of work for the outside defenders," Pickrell said.

Wednesday, P-P started back on the right track with a dominating 4-0 effort over heavily undermanned Caltech. Forward Wyatt Wells '03 notched two goals while Coleman pitched in with two assists. More than anything, the contest allowed the 'Hens to work out some kinks and get back to scoring goals again.

Now, the team looks forward to Saturday's game at Occidental before starting the second half of the conference with a 4 p.m. home match Wednesday versus Whittier.

"At this point we basically have to concentrate on winning each game at a time and put those other things behind us," Pickrell said.

But times are getting desperate for Pomona-Pitzer, as only nine SCIAC games remain. A sweep of the rest of the season is almost necessary for any hopes of post-season play.