CLAREMONT, Ca. – The Pomona-Pitzer lacrosse team earned their 10th-straight victory against the CMS Athenas in a 12-11 overtime thriller for Wednesday's edition of the Sixth Street Rivalry. With the win, the Sagehens maintain their perfect record in conference play at 10-0 and improve to 13-1 on the season. The Athenas narrowly outshot the Sagehens 27-26 in the contest with Pomona-Pitzer earning a 14-12 edge in draw controls. River Buechner was undoubtedly the player of the game, scoring give goals off seven shots with eight draw control victories along with three ground balls and two caused turnovers. The Sagehens will be back in action on Apr. 24 when they travel to Whittier at 7:00 p.m.
 
How It Happened
The Sagehens got off to a quick started as River Buechner scored back-to-back goals just over a minute apart to give the Sagehens a 2-0 lead with 12:25 to play in the first quarter. Grace Warner scored the game's third goal just under a minute after Buechner to put the Sagehens a 3-0 lead with 11:36 to play in the first. From there, the Athenas countered with a 6-0 run to close out the first quarter and put themselves up 6-3 heading into the second quarter. 
 
The CMS run continued as they scored 29 seconds into the second quarter, but Pomona-Pitzer responded with a run of their own to level the playing field. River Buechner, Regan Schunk, Taylor Glanville, and Sydney Landauer all struck the back of the net to tie the game at 7-7 heading into the halftime break. 
 
The third quarter was mainly a defensive battle with CMS scoring two goals while the Sagehens were held to just one goal with Sydney Landauer scoring a buzzer beater to end the third goal with Pomona-Pitzer trailing 9-8. The Athenas continued to pressure the Sagehens with two quick goals to start the fourth, extending their lead to 11-8 but the tides began to turn as River Buechner and Taylor Glanville responded with a goal each to pull the Sagehens within one at 11-10 with 7:59 on the clock. The Sagehens took three shots down the stretch but one went wide, one was saved, and another was blocked, giving the Athenas the ball with 1:46 on the clock. CMS called a timeout to regroup but a late yellow card was called on the Athenas after a dangerous check, giving Pomona-Pitzer the ball in a player up situation with 48 seconds left. 
 
After attempting to get into the attacking third through hard defense from the Athenas, the Sagehens called a timeout with 32 seconds left to set up the final play. After the break, Hannah Gough stormed through the midfield to get the Sagehens in the attacking third and later found River Buechner inside the circle. Buechner was immediately pressured by the Athenas, fighting past three defenders to make a diving shot attempt that found the back of the net for the equalizer with just 8.9 seconds on the clock. Beuchner's late game heroics tied the contest at 11-11 with her fifth goal of the game and would eventually hold through to send the Sagehens and Athenas into a golden goal overtime situation. 
 
River Buechner won the opening draw control of the overtime period, but a turnover gave the Athenas the ball to try to get the game winner. After a successful clear, Hannah Gough caused a turnover to put the Sagehens back on the attack. Pomona-Pitzer called a timeout with 53 seconds on the clock and ran out the clock down to the wire for the final play after the break. With the Athenas playing hard defense down to the final buzzer, Taylor Glanville worked her stick past the defender to find Grace Warner who caught and shot the ball just before the buzzer went off, giving the Sagehens the electric 12-11 overtime victory over the CMS Athenas.