Women's soccer falls to Pomona-Pitzer after late goal

ORANGE, Calif. – A pair of successful corners equalized the score but a late goal for Pomona-Pitzer handed the Chapman university women's soccer team a 3-2 loss to the nationally-ranked Sagehens.

After falling into an early 2-0 deficit, the Panthers earned a corner just before halftime. Casey Gilligan sparked the comeback attempt with an Olympico to put the Panthers on the board. With her left foot, she bent her corner into the side netting to make it 2-1 at the half.

Chapman earned seven corners in the match, including back-to-back corners in the 69th minute. Chaslyn Nestor lined up from the near side and placed the corner perfectly inside the six-yard box. Emma Harper headed the goal into the net to equalize the score at 2-2.

The SCIAC leading Sagehens pushed forward and found the go-ahead goal in the 77th minute. A long pass from Taylor Venenciano was won by Kelsey Shintaku as the ball bounced behind the defender. Shintaku ended up 1-on-1 with the keeper and knocked in a goal off the far post for game-winner.

The Sagehens held a 17-10 advantage in shots taken despite the Panthers earning seven corners and conceding only one. Maia Mills made four saves in goal.

The Panthers stay home this weekend for a Chapman soccer doubleheader against Caltech. The men's game will kick off at 5 p.m. with the women's game following at 7:30 p.m.