CLAREMONT, Calif. - Taylor Glanville scored on a free position shot with no time remaining as the Pomona-Pitzer women's lacrosse team came from behind to earn a 14-13 win over Claremont-Mudd-Scripps in the NCAA Regional Finals on Sunday afternoon at Merritt Field.
Pomona-Pitzer improves to 17-1 on the year and advances through to the Round of 16 next weekend, while CMS sees its season come to a close with a 13-6 final record, with four of the losses coming to Pomona-Pitzer, as well as nationally ranked Amherst and Chicago.
Ella Seidel had five goals for the Athenas, while
Grace Minturn had two goals and five assists, and
Lyla Johnston had 10 saves in goal.
CMS tied the score up 5-5 with 1:08 left in the first quarter on a Minturn goal, and never trailed again until the fourth quarter clock hit 0:00. Minturn and Seidel scored second-quarter goals to put the Athenas ahead 7-5, before Caili Cross finished the half with two to knot the score up at 7-7 at intermission.
The Athenas opened the second half with three straight goals in a span of 1:39 to make the score 10-7, and held the lead until Pomona-Pitzer tied it late at 13-13.
Ella Brown opened the second half with a goal 18 seconds in, and
Amelia Ulmer coverted at the 13:56 mark to stretch the lead to 9-7.
Kate Larson then scored on an underhand scoop shot coming across the front of the cage to make it a 10-7 gmae with 13:21 left in the third.
Pomona-Pitzer scored the next two goals, bur Seidel answered back to close the gap to 11-9. After the Sagehens got back within 11-10 at the end of the third, Seidel scored to open the fourth and restore a two-goal lead.
Eleanor Shen scored with 7:17 left to give CMS a 13-11 lead, but Glanville tied it with 3:39 to go.
The Athenas were forced to play the final minute down two players after a pair of green cards, and momentarily came up with a huge possession with 20 seconds left, but weren't able to clear, and the Sagehens called timeout with 10 seconds left. They worked a play in front of the cage, and CMS was whistled for an infraction with two seconds left, resulting in a free position shot. Glanville was able to convert at the buzzer to send Pomona-Pitzer through to the regionals next weekend in Connecticut.
CMS reached the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2022, as this year's team all made their first NCAA appearances of their careers. The senior class of Ulmer, Minturn, Johnston,
Cate Lewison,
Jessica Sloan-Cooper,
Abby Dercole,
Hannah Conte and
Sophia Shalz were able to go out with a second round appearance after narrow misses in their first three tries.
