THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. (Sept. 21, 2008) –
Occidental College completed a day-two sweep at the second annual
CLU Fall Water Polo Tournament to give them three wins on the
weekend. The Tigers battled through overtime in game one and walked
away with a 14-13 victory over Ventura College before defeating
SCIAC foe ULV 10-6 in the final game of the weekend.
Senior Andrew Valdes finished
the day with seven goals, seven steals and an assist while
sophomore utility player Austen Oliver scored four
times with three assists and a steal to lead the way for
Occidental.
During game one on Sunday the game was tied
nine times, but the Tigers got the edge in overtime, outscoring VC
3-2 to clinch the victory.
Valdes tied for a game high five goals, adding
a pair of steals. Jake Santelli, Cameron Brahmst
and Oliver each scored twice, with Abiel Garcia, Sean
Inoue and Greg Benz rounding out the
scoring.
Oxy trailed 2-0 six minutes into the first
quarter, but managed to find the back of the net twice in the final
1:55 cutting the deficit to 3-2 going into the second period.
Santelli scored back-to-back goals to give the Tigers their first
lead of the game.
At the half, Oxy held on to a 5-4 advantage
and built a two-goal lead entering the final frame.
VC stormed back with four goals, the last
coming with just 24 second to go in regulation, while the Tigers
managed just two.
In the first overtime period the teams
exchanged goals before Occidental took the lead early in the second
OT period. VC immediately knotted the game again. With just over a
minute to go Brahmst put the Tigers back on top for the final time
as the Oxy defense held the opposition scoreless for the remainder
of the game.
Defensively Max Kelly
recorded 12 saves in front of the cage for the Tigers. Santelli
finished with a team leading four steals to go along with his two
goals. Offensively Josh Kantor supplied a pair of
assists.
In game two, Valdes scored two and a half
minutes before the half-time break to give the Tigers a lead they
would not relinquish for the remainder of the game.
Occidental outscored ULV in three of the four
quarters, holding the Leopards to just one goal in both the first
and third quarters.
Valdes, Oliver and Adalberto
Vasquez each found the back of the net twice with Garcia,
Inoue and Brahmst each adding a goal as well. Oliver, Valdes and
Brahmst recorded two steals apiece.
Blair Bergsteinsson made
seven blocks in front of the goal for Oxy. Brahmst and Valdes paced
the defense with three drawn ejections and five steals,
respectively. John Wensman also had two steals.
The Tigers improve to 3-5 overall this season.
Next weekend Occidental will travel to Santa
Cruz to play four games at the annual UCSC Slugfest on Saturday and
Sunday, Sept. 27-28.
