ORANGE, Calif. (Oct. 12, 2008) – Occidental College rebounded from an 0-2 opening day at the 2008 Whittier/Chapman Showdown to win the final two games, salvaging a split in their final tournament tune-up before conference play begins.

The Tigers were led again by senior Andrew Valdes who scored 16 total goals, twice as many as his next closest teammate while adding three assists, six steals and two drawn ejections.

Valdes used a huge five-goal performance in the final game of the weekend to help the Tigers post a 9-7 overtime victory over Fresno State. Abiel Garcia added three goals while Cameron Brahmst rounded out the offense, adding three assists. Max Kelly recorded 13 of his 21 weekend saves in the win.

Earlier on Sunday Oxy defeated Mt. San Antonio College 15-6 backed by four goals from Valdes with Brahmst adding three as 10 different Tigers scored. Blair Bergsteinsson made 11 blocks for Oxy.

Saturday the Tigers opened with a tough 10-8 loss to host Chapman University before dropping the second game to Concordia (Irvine) University 13-8.

Valdes opened the tournament up with a hat trick, with Brahmst pitching in a pair of scores and two drawn ejections. Greg Benz led the pack with four steals, finishing the weekend tied with Austen Oliver tallying eight total steals over the four-game span. Kelly finished with eight saves and three assists.

In the second game on Saturday Valdes again found the back of the net four times with Jake Santelli scoring a pair with two assists in the loss. Oliver also added two assists. Bergsteinsson made 11 saves for Oxy.

Occidental slightly outshot their opponents with a cumulative 37% shooting percentage to the opposition's 36%. The Tigers struggled to convert 6-on-5 opportunities, scoring just nine times in 23 chances.

The Tigers now hold an 8-11 overall record as they round out their non-conference games.

Oxy will travel to Claremont on Sat. Oct. 18 to play Pomona-Pitzer in their SCIAC opener. Teams will jump into the pool at 11:00 a.m.