ORANGE, Calif. – The Chapman University women's lacrosse team scored five straight goals midway through the second half and held on to defeat visiting Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges 13-9 in the first round of the SCIAC Championships at Wilson Field on Wednesday night. The Panthers advance to play top-seeded Pomona-Pitzer Colleges in Claremont on Saturday in the tournament semifinals.

Beating the Athenas for the second time in five days, Chapman (6-10 overall, 4-7 SCIAC) snapped a 5-5 tie with 16 seconds remaining in the first half and would not surrender the lead the rest of the game. Freshman M Gretchen Rodenberger scored the go-ahead goal, her second of the game, in the closing seconds before halftime.

In the second half the Panther offense took over, led by senior A Allie Kontny. Kontny scored a pair of goals two and a half minutes apart to give Chapman an 8-6 lead and started a run of five consecutive goals by Chapman finishing with sophomore M Brooke Martini's third goal of the game with 12:16 remaining which gave the Panthers a 12-6 advantage.

Claremont (9-9 overall, 2-9 SCIAC) rallied for three straight goals to cut Chapman's lead in half, but Kontny and the Panthers responded with one final insurance goal with 1:56 left in the game. The senior finished with three goals and an assist.

Athenas' freshman M Zoe Pinczower scored two of her team-high four goals during that final comeback attempt.

The Panthers are back in the SCIAC Championships semifinals for the second straight year. In 2013, Chapman upset the No. 2 seed Occidental to reach the finals. This year, the Panthers will have to go on the road again to try and knock off No. 1 Pomona-Pitzer (15-3 overall, 8-2 SCIAC), who swept Chapman in two regular season games 11-8 (at Chapman) and 16-6 (at Pomona).

by Doug Aiken
Sports Information Director

Boxscore: http://chapmanathletics.com/sports/wlax/2013-14/boxscores/20140423_wzvp.xml

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