Women's lacrosse to host Whittier in first round of SCIAC Championships

ORANGE, Calif. – In their first season of Division III competition, the Chapman University women's lacrosse team clinched the No. 3 seed in the SCIAC Championships and will host Whittier College in a first round matchup on Wednesday at 7 p.m. at Wilson Field.

Heartbreaking as it was for the Panthers to surrender the No. 2 seed (and a first round bye) in a 16-11 loss to Occidental College on Saturday, Chapman (12-5 overall, 6-4, SCIAC) was rewarded for its season-long effort with home field advantage on Wednesday. The Panthers swept a pair of games from the Poets during the regular season, including a 14-10 win against Whittier just last Wednesday night.

The winner of Wednesday's contest will travel to Occidental to face the No. 2 seeded Tigers on Saturday. Chapman and Oxy finished the regular season tied for second place, but the Tigers earned the No. 2 seed after beating the Panthers in both meetings.

Chapman has been led all season by junior M Victoria Wilkinson and freshman M Kelsey Mackin, who rank Nos. 6 and 7 in the SCIAC in goals scored with 49 and 44 goals, respectively. The Panther offense leads the conference in scoring, averaging 15.7 goals per game, more than two goals per game higher than the next closest team.

Defensively, Chapman senior goalie Anjali Thota leads the SCIAC in save percentage (46.2 percent) and ranks third in goals-against average with a 10.22 mark.

None of the six SCIAC teams in the tournament are currently ranked in the national top 25 poll, however both Redlands and Occidental reached the NCAA Division III tournament in 2012.

by Doug Aiken
Sports Information Director

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