ORANGE, Calif. – The Chapman University women's lacrosse team defeated visiting Whittier 19-7 on Saturday to improve to 8-3 overall and 4-3 in the SCIAC. Corinn Valeri had three goals and three assists while Anna Hereu made 10 saves.

After trading the first two goals of the match, Chapman scored five of the next seven to take a 6-2 lead and ran the lead to double digits with five minutes left in the second quarter. Valeri's second goal of the game with 3:11 left in the second quarter gave Chapman capped a 12-1 run that saw Chapman's lead balloon to 13-2.

The Poets made a run back in the third quarter, scoring three straight goals to slice the lead back into single digits, attempting to make an even bigger comeback they did in their first matchup this season. Chapman quickly put any thoughts of a comeback to bed as Riley Murphy and Mei-Lani Ferreira scored just over one minute apart to put the lead back to 11 goals. Chapman outscored Whittier 4-1 in the fourth to keep hold of third place in the SCIAC standings.

Five different Panthers scored two goals as the scoring spread out in the blowout victory. Emily Allen added another three goals and one assist. Hereu made four of her 10 saves in the fourth quarter, including back-to-back saves in the closing moments of the game. The Poets forced a late turnover and had back-to-back shots from point blanks range but Hereu turned both away to keep the final score at 19-7.

Whittier was just 1-for-5 in free-position opportunities and Chapman ended up with a 17-13 advantage in draw controls – even after Whittier picked up the first three of the match.

The Panthers head out on the road for a three-match stretch, first heading to Claremont-Mudd-Scripps on Wednesday for a 7 p.m. match. Chapman returns to Wilson Field on April 27 for its final home match of the regular season to take on Pomona-Pitzer at 7 p.m.

By Steven Olveda
Sports Information Director

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