LOS ANGELES — Katya Soot came off the bench for the Occidental College women's water polo team midway through the first quarter against La Verne at Taylor Pool on Saturday and had an immediate impact.

The senior utility player found the back of the net three consecutive times for the Tigers — two to give Oxy a 4-1 lead at the end of the opening period and one to kick off the second — en route to a game-high five goals that boosted the squad to its largest victory margin of the season, 12-6, over the Leopards.

Occidental improves to .500 in SCIAC play at 3-3 and 5-17 overall. La Verne falls to 5-22 and 1-5.

Sophomore two-sport athlete Lizzy Kosin opened up the scoring just seconds into the game, showing off her swimming speed by taking a steal coast-to-coast and firing it past Leopard goalie Jacqueline Rojas. Kosin also closed out the contest, scoring her second of the day with just 2:36 minutes remaining and putting the proverbial nail in La Verne's coffin.

Following a Catie Tuning goal that knotted things at one goal apiece, Lindsay Albino broke the stalemate for Oxy with under a minute left in the first period and later became one of four Tigers to record multi-goal performances.

Occidental never looked back.

Soot scored with 27.8 seconds left in the first and again just moments later at the period's buzzer, securing a three-goal lead for the unit at the end of the segment. She then added her fourth with 1:32 minutes left in the half following a pair netted by newcomer Carly Zurcher, and the Tigers were able to take an 8-3 advantage into the locker room.

The win was an all-around team effort for Oxy, as Sofie Munoz got the start in the cage and registered a game-high 10 saves.

Despite a late two-goal push by the Leopards with a majority of substitutions checked in for the Tigers, Soot and Kosin were able to keep La Verne at an arm's length with scores of their own down the stretch.

Tuning and Justine Majarro both scored twice for the Leos, while Sarah Jefferis and Maddie Lovrensky added one apiece.

The Tigers return to Taylor Pool on Wednesday (April 16) hosting CMS for Senior Day at 5 p.m. The women then close out their regular-season campaign at Caltech next Saturday (April 19) before heading into the SCIAC Championship Tournament on April 25-27.

BOX SCORE          1st     2nd     3rd     4th     TOTAL

Occidental            4          4          2        2      12

La Verne               1          2         1         2        6

Oxy Stats:

Goals/Attempts: Soot-5/5, Zurcher-2/4, Kosin-2/5, Albino-2/3, Wheelr-1/1, Appel-0/1, DesCombes-0/1, Shyba-0/2, Gibbs-0/2, Houck-0/2, Yasuda-0/2

Assists: Gill-3, Soot-2, Zurcher-1, McClafferty-1, Albino-1, Shyba-1

Steals: Kosin-3, Munoz-1, DesCombes-1, Shyba-1, Albino-1, Wheeler-1, Zurcher-1, Soot-1, Yasuda-1

Turn-Overs: Albino-2, Gill-1, Gibbs-1, Houck-1, Yasuda-1, Iboa-Garcia-1

Exclusions/Drawn: Kosin-1/1, DesCombes-1/0, Shyba-1/0, Albino-2/3, Wheeler-1/0, Gibbs-3/1, Soot-1/1, Yasuda-1/0, Iboa-Garcia-0/1

Saves/Goals Allowed: Munoz-10/6

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