LOS ANGELES, Calif. (Sept. 16, 2009) – On Wednesday
afternoon, the Occidental College men's soccer team needed
106 minutes to end the game, but all those in attendance at the
Lower Soccer field witnessed a spectacular victory. The Tigers
defeated the visiting University of La Verne Leopards 1-0, in
double overtime, for their first Southern California
Intercollegiate Athletic Conference victory of the season.
A heavily defensive match, the score remained tied at zero until
the 6th minute in the second half of over time.
Ian Powell, the Tiger goalkeeper, ended the game
with seven saves for his second shutout in a row, including a
spectacular one handed save from an almost certain goal late in the
game.
Although scoreless for nearly the entire match, each side had
many opportunities to score; the Leopards finishing with 23 shots
and the Tigers with 14 of their own. At forward, freshman
Daniel Watson proved himself an invaluable asset
to the team with two shots on goal and several near assists with
limited playing time.
Max Murtagh and freshman Reid
Sakamoto once again revealed their strength and tenacity
at defense, preventing many attacks by the La Verne forwards and
creating many offensive situations for Occidental.
In the end, however, Deryck Lim came off the
bench to achieve the victory for the Occidental Tigers and score
his first SCIAC goal of the year; his fourth of the season. The
goal came from an Oxy breakaway as freshman Ben
Murray faced the last Leopard defender and selflessly laid
the ball off to the oncoming Lim who punished the exhausted La
Verne keeper with a perfectly placed ball to the lower corner.
Next up for the Tigers is a trip to the University of Redlands
where the Tigers will off with the Bulldogs
(1-3-1, 0-1 SCIAC) on Saturday, Sept. 19, at 11:00 a.m.
Article: Marco Castanos, Student Reporter
