WHITTIER, Calif. (Sept. 17 2008) – A
battle on the soccer field ended with a 4-2 victory thanks in large
part to senior Fran Taylor who recorded a hat
trick as the Occidental College Tigers defeated
Whittier College in the Southern California Intercollegiate
Athletic Conference opener for both teams.
Oxy struck first when Taylor scored on a feed
from sophomore Rob Riccardi in the 19th
minute of action.
Whittier countered with a score of their own
in the 20th minute to knot the game at 1-1. The Poets
took advantage of a penalty kick opportunity in the 38th
minute, taking a temporary 2-1 lead.
Sophomore Deryck Lim used an
assist from freshman Nitzan Sherman to bring the
Tigers back even going into half time.
While the Oxy defense held Whittier scoreless
in the second half, Taylor added another pair of goals, the first
on an assist from Lim in the 77th minute and the second
in the final minute of play on an assist from freshman
Skylar Roush to solidify the victory.
Ian Powell made four saves in
front of the goal as his counterpart Michael Read made three stops
for the Poets.
Occidental improves to 1-2 overall and holds a
1-0 SCIAC record while the Poets fall to 1-4, 0-1.
The Tigers will be back on the field Saturday,
Sept. 20 when they travel to the University of La Verne to play the
Leopards at 11:00 a.m.
