LOS ANGELES, Calif. (Nov. 3, 2007) –
Both teams left it all out on the field today at the SCIAC
Tournament Championship game on the Lower Soccer Field at the
campus of Occidental College. In the 110th minute of
play the Regals had just a little bit more as they walked away with
a penalty kick victory after overtime to advance to the NCAA
Division III Tournament as the SCIAC representative.
Cal Lutheran, the # 4 seed, upset top seeded
Claremont-Mudd-Scripps 2-0 on Thursday before scoring four penalty
kicks to the Tigers' one en route to a win.
The teams battled through a scoreless first
half, taking a combined 11 shots with no results.
Things picked up in the second half though, as
all four regulation time goals were scored within a 10-minute time
frame.
Oxy got on the board first when Carly
Wachi, in as a reserve, scored on a pass from senior
Adrienne Spivak. The lead was short lived as Cal
Lutheran senior Jordan Kirkman sent the ball past
Melissa Warner, the Tigers' keeper, to tie
things at 1-1 in the 65th minute.
Not even two minutes later freshman
Season Falkler-Rodriguez drove the ball up the
field and found the back of the net, giving Oxy a 2-1 lead. Again
CLU battled back. Senior Sarah Rickert also recorded a goal for the
Regals, knotting things up one more time.
After two scoreless overtime periods the teams
prepared for a five-kick per team sudden death shoot out.
Aubrey Smith of the visiting Regals went first
and sent the ball just out of the reach of Warner.
Occidental's first attempt was high, sailing over the net.
The second CLU attempt came off the foot of Rickert and again found
its way into the net, giving the Regals a 2-0 advantage.
Chelsea Brack cut the deficit in half when her
shot made its way past CLU goalie Kristin Borzi. Cal
Lutheran's Brittany Clark was successful on her attempt as
well. After Occidental's third shot hit the cross bar and
failed to make its way into the net, the Regals' Jaime
Johnson's penalty kick sealed the victory for CLU sending the
fans into a frenzy on the field.
Occidental and Cal Lutheran took 23 and 19
shots respectively. CLU had four corner kick chances and the Tigers
had two. The game was full of fouls as the teams combined for 43
called penalties, 21 by Oxy and 22 by CLU.
In front of her respective cage Warner and
Borzi recorded 14 and six blocks.
The loss drops the Occidental season record
to11-6, 10-4 in SCIAC play while the Regals improve to 9-10-3,
8-4-2.
Despite the loss, the Oxy soccer team advanced
further than ever before. With the graduation of just three and a
strong, solid core of players returning in 2008, the future of
women's soccer at Occidental looks bright.
Cal Lutheran will likely play on Wednesday,
Nov. 7 at a site yet to be determined.
