Women's Lacrosse SCIAC Semifinal: 5 Things To Know

ORANGE, Calif. – For the second year in a row, the Chapman University women's lacrosse team will head into the SCIAC Postseason Tournament as the No. 3 seed and face second-seeded Claremont-Mudd-Scripps.

The Panthers and Athenas will square off on Wednesday at 7 p.m. in the semifinal match of the conference tournament and face the winner of the other semifinal between top-seeded Pomona-Pitzer and fourth-seeded Occidental.

RICKETTS ON THE DRAW

Jessica Ricketts had a record-breaking season scooping up draw controls. The senior broke the all-time record for draw controls, as her career total is now approaching 180, and broke the single season record along the way with 93 this season. She has really run up her totals in her last two trips to Pritzlaff Field with 11 draw controls in last week's matchup and a single game school record of 13 in last year's semifinal matchup.

FAST START NEEDED

In the last three matchups between these two squads, the Panthers have opened the match with a sizable deficit. In last year's semifinal, Chapman fell behind 5-1 in the first eight minutes but battled back before falling 22-19. It was an 8-3 hole to start the first matchup in 2023, which turned into a 17-10 loss. Last week, an 8-2 Athena advantage in the first quarter held off Chapman's push to get back in the match and turned into a 19-13 CMS win.

FROM MIDDIE TO THE TRACK

Annika Carlson finished the regular season with a three-goal match against Whittier, including two in the fourth quarter. She tied the match at 8-8 with 12:27 to go and then iced it with her third goals with 2:44 left to make it 10-8. She then drove up to La Verne for a 6:30 p.m. 3000 meter steeplechase at the SCIAC Track & Field Championships. Carlson won the event to become Chapman's first female champion at a nine-team SCIAC Championship. Just three days later, Chapman's leading scorer on the lacrosse field was also named an All-SCIAC First Team selection.

HUNDRED FOR HEREU

Anna Hereu became just the second goalie in Chapman history to post back-to-back 100-save seasons. With 116 saves this year, she has run her total to 276 over her first two years. She joins Tara Sonnemaker as the only Chapman goalies with multiple 100-save season – Sonnemaker did it three years in a row. Hereu ranks second to her in saves and wins all-time.

DOUBLE DIGITS IN THE WIN COLUMN, TOURNAMENT HISTORY

The Panthers have back-to-back double digit win seasons for the second time in school history. Head coach Dan Kirkpatrick led Chapman to 15 wins in 2016 and 11 in 2017. The Panthers went 11-6 last year and currently sit at 11-5 overall this year. Since the SCIAC Postseason Tournament moved to a four-team format in 2017, the Panthers have qualified every year but have advanced past the semifinal round just once. Chapman made its last championship appearance in 2017 when the Panthers fell to Claremont-Mudd-Scripps 18-9. The year before, Chapman fell by a goal (10-9) to Pomona-Pitzer in the championship match.

By Steven Olveda
Sports Information Director