Orange, CA – This past Wednesday, March 8th, Occidental College's lacrosse team traveled to Orange, California and battled in the closest game the SCIAC has seen in conference play this season against the Chapman University Panthers.

On the offensive side, the Tigers finished the game with nine goals. Six Tigers contributed to that outcome: Cara Bekas, Halle Knuston, and Maeve Moylan all had one goal, and Gabriella Acker, Olivia Okamoto, and Emma Cho all scored two goals. Notably, senior attack and captain Cara Bekas had two assists, and first-year midfielder Maeve Moylan had 12 out of the Tiger's 13 draw controls. Two of the Tigers' flashiest goals included junior captain and attacker Halle Knuston rolling the right crease and pulling under her defender and sophomore attacker Emma Cho falling to her knees, wide open in the eight meter, and pinning the ball right above the goalie's head.

The game was back and forth with the Tigers and the Panthers scoring equal amounts of goals in both the 2nd and 3rd quarters. Crucial to this outcome, the Tigers were three for five of their free position shots (the Tigers' best in game average so far this season). These three goals were scored by first-year midfielder Olivia Okamoto and sophomore attackers Emma Cho and Gabriella Acker. The Tigers remained tough as they were subjected to 21 fouls, 11 of which occurred in the 3rd quarter alone.

On the defensive side, first-year defenders Ellie Mahony and Sydney Acol both caused two important turnovers, the highest for any players on Occidental's team. The Tigers' defensive strategy included sophomore defender Abilene Prewitt face guarding Chapman's junior attacker Mei-Lani Ferreira, who was the leading scorer for the Panthers until last night. However, the defenses' accomplishments would not have been possible without sophomore goalie Andie Angelacci who played all 60 minutes of the game and had 10 saves. Her save percentage last night finished at 40%.

Occidental's team is preparing to face the Haverford Black Squirrel's at home on Friday, March 10th, at 5:00pm in their first non-conference game of the season.