WHITTIER – The Occidental College men's water polo team drew a total of 15 exclusions against Whittier College, but the Tigers could only convert on four of their power-play opportunities in a 13-7 loss on Saturday.

Whittier took a quick 1-0 lead 18 seconds into the game, but the Tigers (5-17, 0-4 SCIAC) managed to draw three exclusions on their next three possessions. Oxy, however, failed to convert any of the power play attempts. 

Whittier (10-11, 5-0 SCIAC) scored two more quick goals 30 seconds apart at around the two-minute mark and after Oxy missed yet another power-play, the Poets scored again late to take a 4-0 lead after the first.

"It was tough watching the guys miss those shots, but you have to give credit where it's due. Whittier executed a very effective 5-on-6 defense," Occidental head coach Larry Zubrin said.

Oxy's defense held strong in the second quarter. The Tigers only allowed one goal and finally got on the board when Jack Stabenfeldt (Larkspur) netted a penalty shot to make it 5-1. Samuel Akiyama (Aptos) then scored on a breakaway as the half closed to cut the Poet lead to 5-2 heading into the break.

The Poets pulled away in the third quarter with five unanswered goals in the period.

The Tigers climbed their way back into the match with a strong fourth quarter led by senior Joe Reynolds (Souderton, Penn.), who scored all three of his goals in the final quarter, but the late run wasn't enough as Whittier continued to contain Oxy's power-play offense.

Zubrin was frustrated with the Tigers inability to score on the power-play but encouraged by the team's overall performance.

"The encouraging thing is that we're starting to give ourselves those opportunities. Earlier in the season we weren't even putting ourselves in position to score, so there's definitely some noticeable improvement," Zubrin added.

The Tigers return to Taylor Pool on Wednesday at 4 p.m. against Chapman University.

BOX SCORE                                    1^st                  2^nd                  3^rd                  4^th                  TOTAL

Occidental                                    0                  2                  0                  5                  7

Whittier                                    4                  1                  5                  3                  13

GOALS SCORED:

Occidental-Reynolds-3, Whitmore-1, Stabenfeldt-1, Akiyama-1, Virshup-1

Whittier-Catino-3, Rehm-2, Mataic-2, Foley-2, Bohlander-1, Cox-1, Oleary-1, Sook-1

SAVES:

Occidental-Churchman-13, Fish-3

Whittier-Rock-10