Panthers advance to SCIAC finals on penalty kicks

ORANGE, Calif. - The soccer gods intended on Chapman University senior F Aimee Evans scoring the game winning goal all along; it just took Evans awhile to get the message. Evans scored the game-clincher in the fifth round of a penalty kick shootout to help the Panthers advance past visiting Claremont-Mudd-Scripps 0-0 (3-2 PKs) and into the finals of the SCIAC Tournament at Wilson Field on Wednesday evening.

After 110 minutes of scoreless play between the No. 2 (Chapman) and No. 3 (Claremont) seeds in the tournament, the match went to penalty kicks where the visiting Athenas took a 2-1 lead after the first three rounds.

A pair of Claremont misses (high) opened the door for the Panthers as sophomore F Jordan Royer tied it at 2-2 before Evans clinched the win in the fifth round. The game-winner was especially sweet and fitting for the senior after missing a breakaway opportunity late in the second half and again in the first overtime period which would have given Chapman (15-5-1 overall, 9-5-1 SCIAC) the win.

Just like the shootout, the rest of the match was evenly played by both squads and quite different from their first two meetings which saw a total of nine goals.

The goalkeepers came up with key saves in the match, both earning shutouts. Chapman's sophomore Marissa Fehrman (15-4-1) made three saves for the Panthers in earning her 11th shutout of the year, tying a school record. Fehrman has not been scored upon in 400 minutes, dating back to the last meeting with Claremont on Oct. 20.

Sophomore GK Molly Freed (8-6-1) made five saves while also earning a shutout for Claremont (11-7-1 overall, 9-5-1 SCIAC).

Chapman will host No. 4 Pomona-Pitzer on Saturday at noon at Wilson Field. The Sagehens were upset winners over top-seeded Cal Lutheran 2-1 in overtime.

by Doug Aiken
Sports Information Director

Boxscore: http://www.chapmanathletics.com/sports/wsoc/2012-13/boxscores/20121031_rezv.xml

Become a fan of Chapman Athletics on Facebook
Follow Chapman Athletics on Twitter @ChapmanSports
#CUPanthers