LOS ANGELES — Adrienne Ruth made back-to-back clutch saves, Oxy star Beebe Finch Sanders broke a 5-5 tie with a momentum-changing goal late in the second half and the Occidental women's lacrosse team put itself in position to win its first SCIAC Championship in program history, beating Chapman 9-5 in the SCIAC semifinals at Jack Kemp Stadium on Saturday.

But shortly after the Tigers earned their victory, top-seeded and conference points leader Pomona-Pitzer beat Redlands in sudden-death overtime in the other semifinal, clinching the SCIAC title regardless of the outcome of the championship game between Oxy and Pomona-Pitzer on May 2 at 11 a.m.

Had Pomona-Pitzer lost, the Tigers would have clinched at least a share of the their first SCIAC Championship in just the program's sixth year sponsoring the sport.

In women's lacrosse, the SCIAC Championship tournament is an extension of the regular season with a point system determining the conference champion and no automatic bid to the NCAA tournament at stake. Each regular season victory counts as one point, one point is given for a win or a bye in the first round, three points are given for a win and two for a loss in the semifinals, and five points are given for a win and four for a loss in the championship game. 

Pomona-Pitzer, now with 13 points, can finish with no less than 17 points. Oxy, which sits on 10 points, can't finish better than 15 points even if it beats the Sagehens.

"It's disappointing that we won't be playing for a SCIAC Championship next Saturday, but we're still  looking to play our best game of the season," Oxy head coach Stephanie Janice Mark said. "Pomona's beaten us twice already this season and we're hoping to be the only SCIAC team that gets to end the regular season with a win."

Oxy still has plenty to play for. The Tigers, currently ranked No. 3 in the West Region, can put themselves in a great position to make their second NCAA Division III tournament with a win against Pomona-Pitzer.

Oxy was able to hold off an improved Chapman team with quality defense and a balanced offensive attack, with eight different players scoring points.

Sierra Slack led Oxy with three goals and Finch Sanders, Mackenzie Wright, Ciarra Byrne, Rebecca Reese, Alida Beck and Brita Loeb each had one. Samantha Stewart had an assist.

Chapman was led by Gretchen Rodenberger who scored two goals and had two assists. 

Ruth, Oxy's senior goalie, made consecutive saves with 17 minutes left in the second half and the game still very much up in the air. First she stopped a free position attempt and then an attempt on the ensuing ground ball from point-blank range.

Just 4 minutes later, Finch Sanders started to her right from the 12-meter line, dodged back to her left and scored Oxy's most important goal, stopping a 4-1 Chapman run that started with 10 minutes left in the first half. 

"I couldn't be more excited and proud of our team's effort," Janice Mark said. "We played a really good Chapman team and we were able to fight the last quarter of the game to pull out the win."