LOS ANGELES, Calif. (April 17, 2010) – Today at Taylor Pool Occidental College's bid to maintain sole possession of the top spot in the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference standings fell short as the visiting Pomona-Pitzer Sagehens upended the Tigers 13-10.
Similarly to the last outing, in which the Tigers were victorious against the Cal Lutheran University Regals, who handed PP their only loss of the season in overtime fashion last weekend, the teams were never separated by much.
Occidental scored less than a minute in to get the offense going when Nanea Fujiyama found the back of the net for the first of three times in the game. The teams exchanged a pair of goals apiece before PP went up 3-2 at the end of the first period.
In an identical performance during the second quarter, Pomona-Pitzer outscored Occidental 3-2, giving the Sagehens a 6-4 halftime lead.
After the intermission PP added a pair of goals, pushing their lead to 8-4 before Tessa Bailey-Findley put in back-to-back goals on consecutive Oxy possessions, cutting the PP lead in half. The Sagehens would go on to add one more to their total entering the final period of play with a three-goal advantage at 9-6.
Again the teams teeter tottered, swapping goals, but three in a row for the Sagehens with just 1:51 to play in regulation was too much of a deficit for the Tigers to overcome, falling by a final of 13-10.
Bailey-Findley joined Fujiyama with three goals in the contest while Karie Nickle added a pair. Julie Monday scored one goal, chipping in with three assists while drawing a pair of ejections. Bailey-Findley also had two ejections drawn in the game.
While Nickle came up with six steals, Bailey-Findley grabbed a pair, adding a huge field block in the fourth quarter.
The difference in the game today was man-up situations. In recent games, Oxy has done a fantastic job of scoring in 6-on-5 situations, but today they converted just two of six chances. On the other end of the pool, they allowed the Sagehens to score on five of their seven 6-on-5 opportunities.
Occidental (10-14, 4-1 SCIAC) jumps back into the pool on Wednesday, April 21 when they travel to La Verne to play the Leopards at 5:00 p.m.
Article by: Tracy Maple, Sports Information Director
