Occidental 6, Chapman 4

Players of the Game: Alessandro Carotenuto sure made scoring a penalty kick look easy.

First he went left, then down the middle and then to the right, recording a hat trick from the dot while lifting the Tigers to an important SCIAC win over Chapman in dramatic fashion on Saturday.

Video Interview with Alessandro Carotenuto

Oxy went up 3-0 in a flash, with Carotenuto's first goal in the 30th minute making it look like the Tigers would blow the Panthers right out of Jack Kemp Stadium.

But then Boston Kimmel scored the first of his three goals and Oxy needed a late rally after Chapman tied the game at 4-4 in the second half.

Turning Point: Michael Tonetti swung the momentum back into Oxy's favor with the game-deciding goal in the 77th minute.

Play of the Game: Santiago Bedoya-Gallego was taken out in the box by Chapman goalie Sean Augustine in the 54th minute, earning Carotenuto's second penalty kick, while also tagging Augustine with a red card.

The Panthers played down a man for most of the second half.

Stat of the Game: The Tigers have recorded 11 goals in their past two games with two players earning hat tricks. Along with Carotenuto's outburst on Saturday, Tod Kawada scored what could be the fastest hat trick in soccer history at any level with three goals in 59 seconds against La Verne on Monday.

Bedoya-Gallego scored Oxy's first goal 15 minutes in on an assist from Morgan Bennett-Smith, and then Bennett-Smith added Oxy's second goal 10 minutes later on a pass from Kawada.

From the Coach: "This was a big learning experience for us, but I'm happy with the character we showed to respond after Chapman tied the game up," said Oxy head coach Rod Lafaurie. "We've proved to ourselves what we're capable of and now it's about putting it together consistently."

Season Impact: The Tigers improve to 6-3 overall and are back to .500 at 3-3 in SCIAC play. With two games left to play in the first round of the double round robin conference format, Oxy sits in fifth.

Next Game: The Tigers host Claremont-Mudd-Scripps on Oct. 1 at 7 p.m.