SCIAC Tournament: 5 things to know

THE MATCHUP

No. three-seeded Chapman University hits the road to face the No. two-seeded Cal Lutheran Regals in the SCIAC Tournament Semifinals. The Panthers fell 1-0 to the Regals in late September, the only time the teams faced this season. Despite the loss, Kelsey Bland secured five saves off of their six shots on goal. Chapman finished the season 7-4-1 in the conference with 22 points while Cal Lutheran finished 8-1-3 with 27 points.

PIDGEON TAKES FLIGHT

All-SCIAC First Team member Riley Pidgeon led the SCIAC and the Panthers with 12 goals in 2021, before her breakout senior season she had five career goals with the Panthers. She secured her first career hat trick in a 5-0 victory over Caltech in early October and secured the two goals in a overtime victory in the last regular season game against Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, securing third place for Chapman. She earned SCIAC Athlete of the Week honors three times this year and led the conference with 59 shots and 27 points.

UP & UP

The Panthers only improved as the season transitioned into October, scoring 17 goals compared to September's ten despite playing fewer games in October. Chapman's goals against average dropped from 1.11 to 0.99 as they neared securing their place in the postseason.

HARNESS THE MOMENTUM

The Panthers look to harness the momentum from their last regular season home game after defeating the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Athenas 2-1 in overtime to secure third in the SCIAC. Chapman trailed 1-0 until the final ten minutes of the match when Pidgeon rocketed the penalty kick into the goal tying the score. Pidgeon chipped in the game-winner six minutes into overtime to secure the Senior Night victory.

SAVES ON THE ROAD

Kelsey Bland secured 49 conference saves and 55 overall in the 2021 season, she ranked fourth in the SCIAC with a .821 save percentage. Bland tallied 40 of her saves on the road compared to her 15 at home contributing to the Panthers five road wins compared to the four on home turf.