LOS ANGELES — The normally sharp-shooting men's water polo team struggled to find the back of the net in a 16-9 loss to No. 2 Whittier College at Taylor Pool on Saturday.

Entering the game the Tigers had been hitting nearly 40 percent of their shots this season, but against the Poets the Tigers converted just 9 of 37 for a season-low 24 percent from the field.

Despite the poor shooting, head coach Larry Zubrin was pleased to see his offense produce opportunities.

"All season long we've struggled to find good looks on goal. We've got some good shooters but getting them the ball at the right time has been an issue," Zubrin said. "We've tinkered a bit with our approach on offense and today we had plenty of good looks, but we just couldn't seem to avoid the cross bar. "

Oxy outdrew the Poets 14-8 in exclusions, but the Tigers converted just six of those power play opportunities. 

Jack Stabenfeldt led the Tigers with four goals, while Kevin Coleman and Samuel Akiyama each scored twice.

Entering the game Oxy's three leading scorers were averaging a combined 12 shots per game. Today, the trio put up a combined total of 29 shots on goal.

"You have to give Whittier credit. Their goalie did a good job and defensively they were very effective at countering our misses," Zubrin said.

Freshman Paul Bergevin netted his first career goal as a Tiger to round out the Occidental scoring.

Akiyama and Coleman each drew five exclusions in the game, both equaling their career high.

Oxy will travel to Chapman University on Wednesday for their next SCIAC match.  

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