McGee Scores Game Winner; Regals Advance to SCIAC Tournament Final

Kristi McGee scores the game winner as Regals win 6-5.

Posted: Apr 27, 2018

THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. – Cal Lutheran's Kristi McGee scored the game winner with 1:22 left as the Regals defeated the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Athenas 6-5 in a Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) semifinals thriller Friday afternoon at the Samuelson Aquatics Center.

The Regals advance to the SCIAC Tournament Final and will take on Pomona-Pitzer. The Sagehens defeated the Whittier Poets 15-3. This is the third time the Regals have advanced to the SCIAC Tournament Final. The last time Cal Lutheran was there was 2009.

Bailey Meyer was in front of the cage and tallied 11 saves in the win. She broke the single-season record for most saves and now has 294. The previous record was 289 and set by Gina Merry in 2015.

McGee and Victoria Rose Meek led the offense with two goals each. Mackenzie Thomas and Megan Seeman both added one. Seeman also had an assist. Mardell Ramirez recorded a team-high two drawn ejections.

Defensively, Nikki Roed was big on defense and tallied a game-high five steals. Nicole Guerriero and McGee both added two apiece. Thomas and Seeman each had one.

The game was very even and went back and forth multiple times. Both teams scored twice in the first quarter with the Regals getting on the board first. Meek scored just over a minute into the game and CMS answered two possessions later. The Athenas then took their first lead, but McGee tied the game at 2 as she scored with 57 seconds left in the quarter.

The defense picked up in the second quarter and neither team could score a goal. CMS took the lead again as the Athenas scored the first goal of the third quarter. Meek added her second with 1:43 left in the third. Meek and Thomas had a two-on-one breakaway and converted to tie the game. Thomas then gave CLU the lead with 16 seconds left in the third.

CMS scored on their first possession of the fourth quarter and the game was tied at 4. Seeman gave the CLU the lead once again as she scored with 4:07 left in the game. CMS was right there with the equalizer again, and there was 2:59 left.

With 1:22 left in the game, McGee saw her opening as she was straight on with the goal. She fired the ball into the upper right corner and won the game for the Regals. The defense did the rest and Cal Lutheran won 6-5 and advanced to the SCIAC Championships Final.

The Regals play in the finals Sunday afternoon in Claremont, Calif., as Cal Lutheran takes on top-seed Pomona-Pitzer at 2 p.m.