Mendoza notches game-winner as Panthers advance to SCIAC semis

ORANGE, Calif. – Be careful what you wish for. The Chapman University women's lacrosse team wanted and earned the No. 3 seed and home field advantage by virtue of a tiebreaker in a three-way tie for third place in the SCIAC regular season standings.

As a result, the Panthers earned a date with No. 6 seed and winless Whittier College on Wednesday night in the first round quarterfinal of the SCIAC Championships. But the Poets gave Chapman all it could handle before the Panthers narrowly escaped with a 9-8 win at Wilson Field. The Panthers will now travel to No. 2 seed Occidental College on Saturday in semifinal match.

Chapman senior A Michelle Mendoza scored the game-winning goal with 7:17 remaining in the second half to give the Panthers their third straight goal and first lead since 2-1 in the first half. Junior A Kylee Moore assisted on the goal, Mendoza's second of the game, and the Chapman (8-5 overall, 6-5 SCIAC) sealed the win in the closing minutes maintaining possession to limit the drama.

Whittier (2-14 overall, 0-11 SCIAC), winless in SCIAC play, led for most of the second half, capturing its first lead at 3-2 with 10:27 to play in the first on a goal by Meesha Robinson. The Poets' Taylor Pool followed with a goal of her own to build a two-goal advantage and Whittier would hang on to the lead for the next 30 minutes.

The Panther offense was frustrated most of the game by Whittier G Nicole Yorba who made 12 saves total, including eight in the first half alone. Chapman also had four shots hit the post and struggled to score back-to-back goals and tie the game until finally junior M Brooke Martini and sophomore A Gretchen Rodenberger earned consecutive scores at 12:59 and 9:29 to tie the game at 8-8, setting up Mendoza's game-winner. Martini led the Panthers with three goals.

Whittier's Rebekah Delladera also scored three goals to lead the Poets offensively.

Chapman won for the sixth consecutive game at Wilson Field, but likely won't return for a home game unless both of the top two seeds in the SCIAC Championships are ousted on Saturday.

by Doug Aiken
Sports Information Director

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