CLAREMONT, Ca. – The Pomona-Pitzer lacrosse team claimed their second-straight SCIAC Tournament Championship title with a 13-12 nail-biting victory over the CMS Athenas on Saturday night at the South Athletic Complex. The Title is the Sagehens fourth Tournament Championship in program history having won in 2015, 2016, and 2022. Carly Sullivan was awarded the Tournament Most Valuable Player award for her stellar defensive prowess on the back line for Pomona-Pitzer. Offensively, the Sagehens were led by Fiona Lewis who ended the night with five goals and one assist with Grace Warner recording three goals and two assists. With the victory, the Sagehens earn the automatic qualifier into the 2023 NCAA Division III Women's Lacrosse Tournament for the second year in a row. 

The Sagehens wasted little time finding the back of the net in the SCIAC Championship as Sydney Landauer and Fiona Lewis both scored a goal in the opening two minutes. Lewis connected again with the back of the net just 43 seconds after her first goal of the night, giving Pomona-Pitzer an early 3-0 lead. The Sagehens continued to put the pressure on with Grace Warner scoring three unanswered goals to increase Pomona-Pitzer's lead to 6-0 with 8:55 before Eloise Cherian scored just over three minutes later to make it 7-0. The Athenas finally answered on the offensive end, scoring two goals to cut the deficit to 7-2 but Ellie Kruse responded with 2:39 on the clock to make it 8-2. The Athenas were able to strike once more in the quarter, but Fiona Lewis had the final goal of the first quarter to extend the Sagehens lead back to six goals at 9-3.  

Pomona-Pitzer continued to attack early in the second quarter as Maggie Sweeney and Fiona Lewis both scored a goal to extend the lead to a convincing 11-3 with 10:56 left in the second quarter. CMS slowly but surely surged back into the game, scoring five unanswered goals over the span of nearly eight minutes, cutting the Sagehen lead to 11-8 with 2:07 remaining in the second quarter. Maggie Sweeney was able to score once more before the halftime break to put the Sagehens up 12-8. 

Out of the break, the Athenas struck first with Fiona Lewis countering with her fifth goal of the night to make it 13-9. The Athenas shifted gears once again, holding the Sagehens scoreless for the remainder of the quarter while scoring three goals of their own to cut the lead to 13-12 with the fourth quarter set to decide the champion. The fourth quarter of regulation proved to be a battle from start to finish with both teams recording two saves with CMS earning a slight 5-4 advantage in shots in the quarter. The game intensified down the stretch with the Sagehens holding a 7-6 edge in fouls with both teams recording two yellow cards in the final quarter. CMS was given a yellow card with 1:10 remaining in the contest and was given their second yellow of the quarter just seconds later after another dangerous play. With a two-man up situation, the Sagehens could run out the final possession. Maggie Sweeney elected for an insurance goal opportunity as she found herself with a one versus one situation, but the shot went just wide, putting the ball back in CMS' hands with just under 45 seconds remaining in the contest. The Sagehens defense was relentless in the final minute, forcing a failed clear attempt by CMS with Eloise Cherian picking up the ground ball and running out the remaining time on the clock as the Sagehens defense capped off the 13-12 victory over Sixth Street Rival CMS.