CLAREMONT, Calif. — Sometimes in soccer, one play is all it takes to win or lose a game. On Wednesday afternoon, the Occidental College men's soccer team was on the wrong end of that reality, losing to Pomona-Pitzer 1-0 at Soccer Field.

In the fourth minute, a Tigers (2-6, 2-3) turnover in their defensive third led to Nate Shekita scoring the game's only goal. The Sagehens (5-4, 4-1) clung to their one-goal lead for 86 minutes to earn the victory over Oxy in Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play.

"It was just one of those games where if we don't make a mistake, you go to overtime and who knows," Occidental coach Rod Lafaurie said. "We have some things to clean up offensively, but we've progressed from needing to improve on big things to little things."

Occidental's best scoring opportunity came when Ben Murray slipped past the Pomona-Pitzer defense, but his chip shot sailed just over the crossbar.

It would have been a big step forward if Oxy earned points on the road against a quality league opponent, but Occidental coach Rod Lafaurie said either way the areas needing improvement are getting smaller.

"I'm disappointed that we didn't get points, that we didn't get a win," Lafaurie said. "In this conference it's difficult to get road wins. …We could have gotten one today."

Marcus Brandford, Drake Berglund and Reid Sakamoto each placed shots on goal for the Tigers. Oxy keeper Andrew Larkin saved seven of the eight shots he had to deal with.

The men's soccer team is back in action on Saturday at Whittier College at 11 a.m.