Zuppa breaks all-time points record in women’s lacrosse victory over Pomona-Pitzer
ORANGE, Calif. – Senior Stacey Zuppa made Chapman women's lacrosse history as the Panthers (5-9, 4-5 SCIAC) beat the visiting Pomona-Pitzer (9-7, 4-5 SCIAC) 12-10 earlier this evening. With an assist in the first minute of the second half, Zuppa became the all-time points leader in school history.
Zuppa was chasing former teammate and women's lacrosse assistant coach Kelsey Mackin's career points record heading into the match against the Sagehens. After tying the record with a goal in the first half, the senior broke it with an assist on junior Michaela Lopez's goal that opened up the second half scoring. Zuppa also scored a hat trick to help the Panthers earn the huge win over Pomona-Pitzer.
Chapman came out of the first whistle firing, scoring on their first two possessions after winning both draw controls. Junior Danielle Zahn was the first to strike, netting her first goal just 37 seconds into the match. Sophomore Danelle Lucero was next, scoring a free position shot to give the Panthers an early lead just a minute and a half into the first half.
The Sagehens evened the score with a couple of goals less than two minutes apart from each other, but sophomore Allie Qualman scored to give Chapman the one-goal advantage. Sagehen sophomore Sophie Hubbel fired right back, evening the score again with 13 minutes left to play in the first half. Zahn, Zuppa and Qualman answered by netting three in a row at the end of the first half to give Chapman a 6-3 lead heading into the second half.
The Panthers scored the first two goals of the second half to extend their lead to five goals, but Pomona-Pitzer answered with four consecutive goals over a span of three minutes to cut Chapman's lead to just one. Zahn and Zuppa struck again, this time one minute apart from each other to give the Panthers a 10-7 advantage. Pomona-Pitzer's freshman Kate Immergluck fired back, cutting the lead back down to two goals.
Zuppa and sophomore Alexandra Callaway added two more goals to give Chapman a 12-8 lead with just over ten minutes left to play in the match. Immergluck and the Sagehens didn't go down without a fight as the rookie scored two consecutive goals with just under three minutes left to play. The Panthers ran out the clock in the final three minutes to earn their fourth SCIAC victory and move up in the conference standings.
Zahn led the way for Chapman, scoring four goals while tallying five ground balls, seven draw controls and four caused turnovers in the winning effort. Lopez, Callaway and Zuppa each recorded an assist on top of their goals. Freshman goalkeeper Taylor Hextrum blocked seven shots to bring her saves total up to 92 saves. The Panthers outshot the Sagehens 34-22 in the dominant performance.
Chapman returns home to Wilson Field on Saturday, April 21 at 1 p.m. to take on Claremont-Mudd-Scripps. Senior Stacey Zuppa will be honored in the final home game of her historic Chapman women's lacrosse career.
by Katie Bell
Sports Information Assistant
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