Brooke Martini (Larry Newman Photography)
Brooke Martini (Larry Newman Photography)

Martini leads women's lacrosse to win over Poets

ORANGE, Calif. – The Chapman University women's lacrosse team began the second half of the SCIAC schedule on the right foot, defeating visiting Whittier College 10-6 at Wilson Field on Saturday night. The Panthers' defense equaled a season-low by allowing just six goals en route to their third win in five games.

Chapman (4-7 overall, 2-4 SCIAC), which earned just one win in the first half of the conference season against the same Poets squad is fighting for seeding in the SCIAC Championships when begin at the end of the month.

Clinging to a one-goal lead with just under 10 minutes remaining in the game, Chapman got back-to-back goals from sophomore M Brooke Martini in 37 seconds to pull ahead 9-6. Martini then sealed the win with her sixth goal of the game – a career-high – with just 3 seconds left. The sophomore now has 11 goals for the Panthers in her last two games.

The turning point in the game came during a 22-minute stretch in the first half when the Panthers turned a 2-1 deficit into a 5-2 lead, scoring four straight goals and holding the Poets scoreless until the 1:28 mark before halftime. Chapman led 7-4 early in the second half thanks, in part, to junior A Michelle Mendoza's second goal of the game on a free position shot.

Whittier (5-6 overall, 0-6 SCIAC) then rallied with a pair of goals to cut its deficit to one, but couldn't get even. Chapman senior G Kara Podesta made six saves for Chapman.

Chapman moved into a tie for fourth place in the SCIAC standings with Claremont-Mudd-Scripps with four games to play. The Panthers will hit the road for their next two conference dates before coming home to face the University of Redlands on April 16 at 7 p.m.

by Doug Aiken
Sports Information Director

Boxscore: http://chapmanathletics.com/sports/wlax/2013-14/boxscores/20140405_ml4t.xml

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