Oliaro's late goal lifts women's lacrosse into first place
ORANGE, Calif. – Junior Tessa Oliaro scored just one goal in the match, but made it a big one as she skipped in the game-winner in a 9-8 win over Pomona-Pitzer on Wednesday. Oliaro's deciding goal came with just 31 seconds left in the match.
The Panthers (13-3, 8-2 SCIAC) vaulted into first place behind Oliaro's heroics as they wrapped up regular season play. With Pomona-Pitzer (7-2) and Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (7-2) each having one more match to play, all three teams could end up at 8-2 heading into the SCIAC Tournament.
Chapman led for a total of 31 seconds in the contest as it was forced to overcome an early deficit. The Panthers were tied or trailed until Oliaro put the home team up one in the final minute.
Aubrey Douglass' goal with 18:30 left to play gave the Sagehens an 8-6 lead as they looked to take a step ahead in the race for first place in the SCIAC. However, the Panthers limited the Sagehens to just three shots the rest of the way with junior Tara Sonnemaker making two huge save on both that were put on frame.
Stacey Zuppa brought CU within one after her goal with 13:08 left. After a Sonnemaker save, the Panthers charged down the field in an attempt to tie the game. Gretchen Rodenberger's shot was stopped by the Sagehens' McKenzie Scott but Danielle Zahn was right there to pick up the loose ball. She quickly lifted the ball and fired into the top of the goal to knot the match at 8-8 and complete her hat trick with just over five minutes left.
Sonnemaker came up big again when she stopped a Poona-Pitzer shot with two-and-a-half to go. After a timeout, the Panthers patiently waited for an opportunity. Oliaro drove with less than a minute to play and skipped a show past the goalkeeper to give CU its first lead.
The Sagehens won the ensuing draw control and had a shot fired over the top before losing possession in the waning seconds.
Pomona-Pitzer opened the match with a 3-0 spurt in the first six minutes. However, the Panthers responded with a 4-1 over the next 12 minutes to knot the match at 4-4 on Kelsey Mackin's goal with just over 12 minutes to go in the first half. The Sagehens refused to go down and took a 6-5 lead into halftime.
A couple goals from Douglass completed her hat trick before the Panthers came back for the win.
Sonnemaker made three saves for the Panthers while Scott made eight stops for the Sagehens. Despite losing out on the first four draw controls of the match, the Panthers nearly pulled even in the category, pulling in nine to the Sagehens' 10 in the match.
Chapman will await its seed in the SCIAC Tournament as the rest of the conference plays in their final respective matches this weekend. They are guaranteed a top-3 seed and will finish, at worst, in a tie for first place. Based on their seeding, they will either host a quarterfinal match next Wednesday or a semifinal match the following Saturday.
by Steven Olveda
Sports Information Director
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