WHITTIER – The Occidental College men's water polo team dropped both games of its doubleheader at Whittier on Saturday against nationally-ranked UC San Diego and SCIAC foe Whittier College.
Game 1: UCSD 27, Occidental 1
The NCAA Division II Tritons were the fifth consecutive top 20-scholarship program the Tigers have faced, and it didn't take long for Oxy to fall into a hole as UCSD used a 6-0 first quarter to put the game away.
After extending the lead to 13-1 at the half, the Tritons continued to pour it on with eight more unanswered goals in the third quarter, and another seven in the fourth.
Oxy's lone goal came one minute into the second quarter when junior Jack Stabenfeldt (Larkspur) hit from the perimeter on an Oxy power play.
"It was a lackluster performance from us both physically and mentally," said head coach Larry Zubrin. "After the game we spoke about picking each other up when we're down and working as a group to overcome adversity."
BOX SCORE 1st 2nd 3rd 4th TOTAL
OCCIDENTAL 0 1 0 0 1
UCSD 6 7 8 6 27
GOALS SCORED:
Occidental: Stabenfeldt 1
UCSD: N/A
SAVES:
Occidental: Fish 5, Needleman 4
Game 2: Whittier 17, Occidental 9
The Tigers dropped the second game 17-9 to host Whittier College despite a five-goal effort from Stabenfeldt.
The team felt it showed obvious improvement in the second game.
"We definitely brought a more positive and aggressive attitude into the second game," said senior co-captain Joe Reynolds (Souderton, Penn.). "Partly because Whittier is a SCIAC rival, and partly because we wanted to show ourselves that we're a better team than what was in the water against UC San Diego."
Oxy opened the scoring in a back-and-forth first quarter when Stabenfeldt put the Tigers up 1-0 on a power play, but trailed 5-3 at the end of the period.
Playing back-to-back games seemed to take its toll on the Tigers as Whittier went on a 6-1 run to pull away at the half.
"We were gassed pretty early, and playing back to back with a short-handed roster will do that," Zubrin said. "I was still pleased with our effort though. We fought back in the second half and didn't stop trying. That's the kind of effort it will take to get us where we want to be by the end of the season."
BOX SCORE 1st 2nd 3rd 4th TOTAL
OCCIDENTAL 3 1 0 5 9
Whittier 5 6 4 2 17
GOALS SCORED
Occidental: Stabenfedlt 5, Akiyama 1, Reynolds 1, Maloney 1, Whitmore 1
Whittier: Holzmueller 5, Rehm 3, Eachus 2, Marriott 1, Catino 1, Panfilo 1, Pratt 1, Cox 1, Sook 1, Mataic 1
SAVES
Occidental: Churchman 10
Whittier: Rock 13, Burgess 3
The Tigers return to action next weekend at the Lancer Invitational in Riverside hosted by Cal Baptist University.
