REDLANDS – The Occidental College men's water polo team opened the 2013 season with four games at the Inland Empire Classic hosted by the University of Redlands. Oxy fell short in all four games, but showed a great deal of promise in their season opening games.
Game 1: No. 7 Chapman 15, Occidental 10
Trailing 3-0 in the first, the Tigers relied on the sharp shooting of junior Sam Akiyama to cut the Panther lead to 4-3 at the half. Akiyama led the Tigers with four goals, while sophomore Nathaniel Whitmore recorded his first career hat trick against a top-10 team.
A strong third quarter run put Chapman up by five and they would hold on to win 15-10.
In spite of the loss Head Coach Larry Zubrin was pleased with the team's start.
"It's a far cry from where we've been at this point in the season in recent years," Zubrin said. "We still have a long way to go, but clearly we have the potential to be a more competitive team this year."
Freshman Matt Munet recorded his first career goal in his debut as a Tiger.
Game 2: Concordia 17, Occidental 7
The Tigers struggled against Concordia University, an NAIA scholarship program that pulled off a 9-8 upset win against Division I No. 10 Long Beach State earlier in the day.
Concordia built a 5-1 first quarter lead, and while the Tigers cut the deficit to 7-3 in the second quarter, that was as close as they would get in the 17-7 loss.
Senior Jack Stabenfeldt led the Tiger offense with three goals, while goalies Josh Needleman and Adam Floresheim combined for 13 saves.
Game 3: UC Irvine 20, Occidental 4
The Tigers had their hands full against Division I No. 6 Irvine as they fell behind 10-0 in the first quarter.
Things improved from there and Oxy outscored the Anteaters 3-2 in the second quarter, but the early deficit was too much to overcome in the eventual 20-4 loss.
Akiyama added a team-high two goals, while sophomores Tyler Wilson and Patrick Maloney each scored their first goals of the season.
Game 4: No. 1 Redlands 12, Occidental 4
For the fourth straight game a slow start doomed the Tigers as they fell behind 5-0 against first ranked University of Redlands en route to a 12-4 loss.
"It was very apparent that our fitness level isn't where it needs to be," Zubrin said. "It's early in the season and that's to be expected, but if we want to achieve the goals we've set for ourselves we'll need to be better prepared. It's something we'll fix with good ole' fashioned hard work."
Akiyama and Stabenfeldt led the Tiger attack with two goals apiece. Goalies Needleman and Floresheim combined to stop 17 shots.
Although the team lost all four games there were some notable bright spots. With senior goalie Patrick Fish sitting out for the weekend with an injury, Needleman and Florsheim covered the net and combined for 55 saves in four games.
Akiyama, who tallied over 50 goals as a sophomore in 2012, led the Tiger offense with 10 goals in the four games. Last seasons team MVP, Jack Stabenfeldt finished the weekend with seven goals and a team-high five assists.
The Tigers will return to action next Friday and Saturday at the Lancer Invitational hosted by Cal Baptist University.
