THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. - The top seeded Cal Lutheran women's soccer team was upset by the No. 4 seeded Pomona-Pitzer Sagehens, 2-1, in overtime in the semifinal of the SCIAC Post Season Tournament Wednesday night. The Regals were on the bad end of some misfortune as a slick ball escaped the grasp of the CLU goalkeeper's hands and found the back of net, giving the Sagehens their first win over Cal Lutheran in three tries and allowing Pomona-Pitzer to advance to Saturday's final against Chapman.
Despite the exciting finish, things got off to a sluggish start as both teams struggled to get their offenses going and combined for just three shots in the first half.
Cal Lutheran midfielder Bailey Marquez had the only shot of the first half for the Regals in the 20th minute when she collected a pass from just outside the box and fired a shot that went just high.
Pomona-Pitzer had a chance in the 34th minute when Sarah Ach fired a shot on goal but a crowd of CLU defenders in front, deflected the ball away.
Later in the half, Sagehen midfielder Amanda Coba had a shot sail wide as the first half clock expired and the teams remained at 0-0.
Cal Lutheran wasted little time getting started in the second half when in the 47th minute, Mayra Virgen out ran a Sagehens defender and found a trailing Nicole Rains, who took one dribble and laced a shot in to the back of the net to put CLU on top 1-0.
Pomona-Pitzer broke through in the 66th minute when Claire Mueller sent in a cross and Sam Thompson made the initial contact with a header that deflected off the post. Julie Dohner was there for the rebound and headed it in to the goal, tying the score at 1-1.
Cal Lutheran had a great scoring chance in the 77th minute when Taylor Will perfectly headed a through-ball to wide-open Virgen. The senior forward then took a dribble before her shot narrowly deflected off the post.
The Regals nearly scored again when Kirsten DiPippo played in a corner-kick that found Lindsay Armenta, but the midfeilder's header sailed over the cross bar.
Neither team had many chances in the last ten minutes and regulation ended in a 1-1 tie.
In the 94rd minute what looked like a routine save, ended poorly for the Regals. Dohner kicked a slow rolling shot on goal that goalkeeper Kristin Bailey initially looked as though she had the save, but the slick ball escaped her grasp and rolled into the back of the net giving the Sagehens their golden-goal as Pomona-Pitzer defeated Cal Lutheran 2-1 in overtime.
With the win Pomona-Pitzer improves to 9-6-2 and advances to the SCIAC finals Saturday against Chapman. Cal Lutheran falls to 17-4 and will now await the NCAA selection show on Nov. 5 in hopes of earning an at-large bid.
Box Score: PP 2 CLU 1 (OT)
