Photo by samsphotoservices.com

Los Angeles, CA — The Occidental Tigers kick started their pre-season playing defending National Champions, University of Southern California, and Claremont-Mudd-Scripps in a round-robin tournament at USC's Uytengsu Aquatics Center on Saturday afternoon. 

The Tigers fought hard in the first quarter against the USC Trojans with Norah Ruvalcaba (Moreno Valley, CA) firing a near-side shot into the cage, assisted by Lily Collins Carson (Bend, OR). After regrouping, the Tigers attempted to score throughout the second quarter, but weren't able to find the back of the net. Koko Butcher (Honolulu, HI) shot and scored in the third quarter with help from Olivia Montgomery (Eugene, OR). The Tigers put in tremendous effort against the Trojans, but fell short in the end with a final score of 33-2. 

Tilly Kearns and Mireia Guiral of USC both scored five goals each, leading the Trojans to a high scoring game.

After a tough game against the Trojans, the Tigers were off to a strong start against the CMS Athenas with goalies Allison Smith (La Crescenta, CA) and Alexandra Moye (San Diego, CA) saving a combined total of seven shots in the first quarter. Soon after, Koko Butcher found the back of the cage and scored. The Tigers put up a hard fight defensively in the second and third quarter, but weren't able to stop the Athenas. Then, in the fourth quarter, Abigail Lavold (Tacoma, WA) found the perfect opportunity and scored, bringing the Tigers to the end of their game with a final score of 18-2. 

Dara Schoolcraft led CMS with three goals scored.

Oxy Scoring:

Koko Butcher - 2

Norah Ruvalcaba - 1

Abigail Lavold - 1

In Oxy's cage, Allison Smith had eleven saves and Alexandra Moye had twelve in total for both games. 

Next Game: The Tigers will be off to play in the Macalester Invitational in Minnesota in 3 weeks.