LA VERNE, Calif. (Sept. 12, 2007) – The
Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference season
opener didn't pan out exactly how the Tigers would have liked
as they fell 3-2 on the road to La Verne.
An hour into play John Minger
scored back-to-back goals, six minutes apart, erasing an early 2-0
deficit and bringing the Tigers back into the game. The first came
on a penalty kick in the 61st minute.
The teams remained tied and just as it seemed
the game would end that way, La Verne's Wesley Lucas scored
on a pass from Francisco Escobido with 45 seconds remaining in
regulation to give the Leopards a 3-2 edge and their first victory
of 2007.
La Verne out-shot Occidental 14 to 10 and each
team had three corner kicks in the contest.
The Leopards and Tigers combined for seven
yellow cards being issued four and three respectively.
In front of the goal Ian
Powell played all 90 minutes and recorded five saves for
Oxy while La Verne's Adan Jaime blocked just one shot.
La Verne improved to 1-3-1, 1-0 SCIAC while
Oxy falls to 1-3, 0-1 SCIAC on the season.
The Tigers will host the Caltech Beavers at
D.W. Patterson Field on Saturday at 11:00 a.m. for their second
SCIAC game of the season.
