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Poets schooled by Leopards on senior night

La Verne junior midfielder Cassidy Schweiger tries to regain the ball from Whittier’s junior forward Maegan Garcia and senior defender Dana Bergstrom in the first half of the senior night game Saturday at Ortmayer Stadium. The Leopards beat the Poets, 2-0./ photo by Mariela Patron
La Verne junior midfielder Cassidy Schweiger tries to regain the ball from Whittier’s junior forward Maegan Garcia and senior defender Dana Bergstrom in the first half of the senior night game Saturday at Ortmayer Stadium. The Leopards beat the Poets, 2-0./ photo by Mariela Patron

Jolene Nacapuy
Sports Editor

Kat Simonelli
News Editor

Women’s soccer shined on senior night, as the team closed out its season with a 2-0 win against the Whittier Poets Saturday at Ortmayer Stadium.

La Verne falls short of making the postseason tournament, coming in sixth in Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference standings.

The team finishes the season 7-10-1 overall and 5-8-1 in SCIAC.

“It was the last game but tonight we talked about performing as a group and making sure that we end things on a positive note and I think they did that,” head coach Lauryn Pehanich said.

Five seniors were honored prior to the game, defenders Audriana Arceneaux and Deana Doss, goalkeeper Delanie Pacheco, forward Natalie Vasquez and midfielder JJ Weaver.

“As a whole tonight I think we played pretty well especially for being down a player in the second half,” Pacheco said.

“I think we fought to the very end and stayed together which is important to do in this last game so I’m proud of the effort we put in.” she said.

The Leopards were dominant throughout the game and put pressure early on in the game for the Poets.

Weaver attempted to get La Verne on the board early in the fourth minute of the game for the Leopards with multiple shots on goal, but Whittier senior goalkeeper Caitlyn Schrepfer turned them away.

Weaver had a game-high of six shots on goal.

The Leopards managed to get close to the goal and take multiple shots, but could not get close enough into the net.

Sophomore forward Alexa Smith found an opportunity to get La Verne up on the board first in the first half of the game.

Smith managed to score a goal in the 17th minute of the game when she managed to get a loose ball and take a shot from the six-yard line.

This was Smith’s second goal of the season.

“Lex has been dominant all year long with her pace on the outside of the field and we have been working on getting to the end line,” Pehanich said. “She got there appropriately and made sure she finished it.” she said.

Going into the second half with a 1-0 lead, the Leopards kept the momentum strong.

In the 38th minute of the game, junior forward Tatiana Raygoza attempted to score another goal for the Leopards but Schrepfer deflected the ball.

“The ball had bounced out and I had received it and I tried to get a shot off but the goalkeeper deflected it and so there were a lot of defenders poking it around,” Raygoza said.

The Leopards managed to get the rebound from the deflection by junior midfielder Kelsea Varner.

Varner then passed the ball back to Raygoza, who took a second shot at the goal and put the ball into the back of the net, 2-0 La Verne with the lead.

“When she passed it to me, I just took it in with my right and shot with my left and it went in,” Raygoza said.

“I feel like all season I had been constantly been taking shots trying to get it and when I finally scored that goal I was just really excited I finally got one.” she said.

Defense for La Verne kept the pressure, but were a little too aggressive and were fouled many times and also a red card.

“Getting a red card in the second half kind of hurt us a little bit. I think first half we were a bit more dominant than we were second half,” Pehanich said. “We didn’t change our shape too much, I think we continued to press high even though we were down a man we still had opportunities.”

The work of the defense held it together and the Poets back, resulting in zero shots on goal.

La Verne kept the Poets on the edge with 15 shots and nine on goal.

With shots attempted by Weaver, junior midfielder Cassidy Schweiger, Varner, junior midfielder Maribel Duran, Smith and Chien and the defense, the Leopards schooled the Poets to finish out their season with a win.

“Whittier plays a very high line and it’s difficult because you can get caught in that offside position if you’re not paying attention to it,” Pehanich said.

As the season comes to an end, the seniors stay positive with the bittersweet moment.

“It was a nice send off. It’s just a great way to end my career with a shutout,” Pacheco said.

Jolene Nacapuy can be reached at jolene.nacapuy@laverne.edu.

Kat Simonelli can be reached at kathryn.simonelli@laverne.edu.

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