LA VERNE, Calif.(Oct. 25, 2008) –  With the offense accumulating 318 yards of offense in the first half, including four touchdowns and two field goals, and the Tigers defense shutting the University of La Verne down, # 20 Occidental College clinched a 40-27 victory at Ortmayer Stadium to remain undefeated at 6-0 overall and 3-0 in Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play.

On the second drive of the first half, en route to the first score of the game, senior quarterback Justin Goltz connected with junior wide receiver Chris Washington for the longest completion of the game, marking the second longest pass of the season, at 56-yards. Moments later Bryan Fiorito would gain one yard and a touchdown to put the Tigers on the board.

The next offensive series also ended with a touchdown when Goltz again found C. Washington for an eight-yard TD pass. Neil Martin finished off both plays, putting Oxy up 14-0 at the end of the first quarter.

During the second quarter Martin added 33 and 22 yard field goals to his repertoire of scoring with two more touchdowns sandwiched between the kicks. With 5:12 to play in the first half Fiorito used a six-yard scamper to land in the end zone for the second time of the day before C. Washington caught a 26-yard pass three minutes later to match Fiorito with two TDs in the opening stanza.

Occidental's defense held the Leopards to just 47 yards during the opening half with Patrick Sarkissian leading the pack with six total tackles, three for a loss of 11 yards, including a sack for a loss of nine while Cory Suess also had a big first half coming up with three stops and a 24-yard interception, the first of his collegiate career. Each of them broke up a play as well.

La Verne showed life in the second half scoring 27 points on four touchdowns, three of which came in the final quarter of play. Leopards quarterback Christian Winnewisser came off the bench to accumulate 303 passing yards for three TDs adding a fourth score by foot on a one-yard run.

The final Oxy scoring came in the third quarter when Goltz connected with C. Washington in the end zone for the third time in the game on a 23-yard pass.

Goltz, who earned SCIAC Athlete of the Week honors for his performance against Chapman, finished 20-for-35 passing for 313 yards with no interceptions while adding 23 yards on the ground in just three quarters of play. His favorite target today was C.Washington who caught nine passes for 175 yards. Additionally C. Washington added a kickoff return for 29 yards and four punt returns for a total of 19 yards, amassing 223 all-purpose yards in the game. Trevor Duessen and Jordan Washington each caught three passes for 31 yards with their longest at 18 and 16 yards, respectively.

J. Washington was also instrumental on kick returns carrying the ball three time for 74 total yards. He finished with 114 all-purpose yards.

ULV's Kenneth Chapman tallied 105 all purpose yards, with 88 coming on kick returns, to lead the Leopards.

On the ground freshman Randall Hook paced the Tiger accumulating 95 yards on 16 carries with his longest gain 29 yards.

Thirty-three different Tigers were effective on defense either recording a tackle or breaking up a play. Dillon Tucker tied Sarkissian (who only played one half) with six tackles in the game to lead the Tigers. Ayrton Bates and Suess each finished with five while Thomas Bergstrom and Daniel Tromello (who only played one half) recorded four apiece. John Hansbrough forced a fumble while Kevin May recovered a fumble. Brandon Ortega was responsible for the second sack of the game, pushing the Leos back two yards.

The kicking game was again led by freshman Joshua Mun who booted the ball deep for Oxy in eight kickoff opportunities. Alex Groh punted four times for 180 yards with his longest punt measured at 61 yards. He had one punt inside the 20 and one touchback.

Kyle Kazarian also took some snaps under center, finishing 2-for-6 passing, but was picked off once, by Ryan Baranek.

Next Saturday, Nov. 1 the Tigers will be on the road for the fourth consecutive week as they travel to Thousand Oaks for a conference showdown with Cal Lutheran (5-1) who is also undefeated at 3-0 in SCIAC play. Kick off is slated for 1:00 p.m. at Mt. Clef Stadium.