LOS ANGELES — Senior Jack Stabenfeldt lit up the scoreboard with a career-best seven goals, but it wasn't enough as the Occidental men's water polo team fell to No. 8 La Verne 19-17 at Taylor Pool on Saturday.
The Leopards applied early pressure on defense, forcing the Tigers into several turnovers and giving La Verne a 6-3 first-quarter lead.
Oxy battled back after trailing by four early in the second. Stabenfeldt, who scored three goals in the quarter, helped cut the ULV lead to 10-9 at the half.
That would be as close as Oxy would get.
Although the Tigers outscored La Verne 14-13 over the final three quarters, the Tigers could never take the lead.
The Leopards took their biggest lead of the match late in the fourth quarter when they went up 19-14. Oxy clawed its way back, scoring the game's final four goals in the last 3:30.
"Obviously it's a difficult loss in a hard fought game. But you gotta give our guys some credit," Oxy head coach Larry Zubrin said. "They get knocked down, but they don't stay down. They're a resilient group of young men. We may be down right now, but we're not out. We'll get up, brush ourselves off, and keep moving forward."
Along with Stabenfeldt's seven goals, four other Tigers pitched in with multi-goal efforts. Senior Christian Erwin notched three goals, to record his third hat-trick this season.
Patrick Maloney, Nathaniel Whitmore, and Nick Heffner each added two goals, while senior Kevin Coleman rounded out the Tigers scoring.
Goalie Adam Florsheim recorded 14 saves in the match. The first year standout also added a team-high three steals and one assist.
The Tigers we'll be back at home next Wednesday for a 7 p.m. match against No. 1 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps. Oxy will recognize their five graduating seniors prior to the match in the final home game of the 2013 season.
