The Pomona-Pitzer women’s lacrosse team’s losing record (2-6, 0-3 in SCIAC) does not accurately convey what they have accomplished so far this season.

At this point in their season, Coach Katie Shannon has a positive view of what has happened so far and of what is to come. “Our record of 2-6 does not reflect the talent we have and the hard work my players have put in,” she said. “A lot of our losses could have been wins if we had done the little things right. We are a young team that is learning in every game and as a coach, that is all I can ask for. We still have half of our games left and I hope to turn things around tonight and win our first league game against Occidental. I think we can take that momentum into our upcoming trip up north when we play Pacific, Linfield, UPS.”

P-P has managed to pull off two impressive wins against Carthage (21-10) and Pacific (19-18) and look forward to improving on their record in the second half of the season.

The Pacific game was particularly exciting as it went into triple overtime. It seemed as if P-P had the game in the bag after gaining possession following a goal in the last couple minutes of regulation by Emma Molloy PI ’13, putting them up 16-15.

But after an offensive blunder, Pacific was able to tie it up with nine seconds left.

In both of the first two three-minute overtimes, P-P scored the first goal, only to be answered by Pacific with only seconds left. Martha Marich PO ’12 scored the game-winning goal 71 seconds into the sudden death period.

Although the score was close, P-P clearly outplayed their opponents as they led in shots, 31-25, draw controls, 28-12, and ground balls, 20-11.

A surprising success story on the team this year comes in the form of Julia “Wallace” Behr PO ‘10, who had never played lacrosse before this year but was recruited by her friend and captain Kira Watson PO ’10 to play goalie for the team. Her performances on the field have been amazing, made even more so by the fact that she has had no formal goalie training. She has consistently had more saves than the opposing goalie, with especially outstanding performances against Ohio-Wesleyan (18 saves), Whittier (15 saves), Sewanee (12 saves), and Redlands (16 saves). She is continuing to improve as the season progresses.

P-P has also been fortunate to receive freshman newcomers Emma Molloy PI and Jenny Miner PO. Both have been huge for the Hens in terms of midfield transitions, draw controls, ground balls, and goals. Molloy has proven herself a force to be reckoned with when it comes to the midfield draw, which happens after every goal and is very important for the momentum of the game. She had six draw controls against Ohio-Wesleyan and five against Sewanee. Miner has also racked up some impressive stats, with four goals against Ohio-Wesleyan and three against Pacific.

Co-captains Watson and Devon Haynes PI ’10 have been big on assists for the team. Watson had a team-high three assists in the Pacific game. Fellow captain Hannah “Tiki” T’Kindt PO ’11, with her killer side-arm shot, has again been one of the leading scorers for the team as well as a leader in ground balls.

Marich has lived up to her reputation, as she had an astonishing 12 goals against Carthage and 10 against Pacific. She has scored 56 goals so far on the season, averaging seven goals a game.

The Hens have in no way given up on their season. They know they’re a good team and are ready to have another shot at each of the SCIAC teams. Defensive starter Maddy Noble PI ’12 had this to say: “The season is far from over. We are still motivated and build upon every practice, and we’ll be a better team when we face each of these teams again.”