LOS ANGELES — Goalkeeper Josh Needleman and the Occidental men's water polo team rallied from a 6-1 deficit to tie No. 5 Cal Lutheran late in the fourth quarter, but the Tigers got stuck on eight goals and weren't able to get over the hump in a 10-8 loss to the Kingsmen at Taylor Pool on Saturday.

Needleman was the player of the game for the Tigers, finishing with a career-high seven steals, three assists and 13 saves.

Sam Akiyama, and Taylor Russell each fired shots that missed off of the crossbar in the final 2 minutes of the game that could have tied the score.

The Tigers went on a 6-0 run, starting at the end of the first half and lasting throughout the third quarter, giving them a 7-6 lead to start the fourth. Oxy even went up 8-6 when freshman Matt Weiser scored his second goal of the game with 7 minutes left.

But Oxy's offense ran out of gas and Cal Lutheran finished the game with four unanswered goals. 

"The guys showed a lot of heart and played amazing defense," Oxy head coach Larry Zubrin said. "It's too bad we couldn't capitalize on that."

In one of their best defensive efforts of the year, the Tigers were plagued by 23 turnovers.

Weiser, Russell, Nick Heffner and Paul Bergevin each finished with a pair of goals. Matthew Munet and Bergevin each had three steals. 

Oxy falls to 5-22 overall and is still searching for its first SCIAC win.

The Tigers return to action on Wednesday, hosting Caltech at 4 p.m.

"There's still plenty of seaosn left," Zubrin said. "We've got too more conference games and the conference tournament where anything can happen."