Photo by Kelly Young

Pomona, CA – In an exact repeat from last season, yesterday, May 3, your Tigers competed in the lacrosse SCIAC semifinals at Pomona College. Occidental's lacrosse team was one of three Oxy teams to make it to postseason play this academic year, and the only women's team to compete. While the Tigers lost 22-4 to the first-ranked Sagehens, the score did not reflect the game's competitiveness.

The Tigers came out strong in the first quarter, ending it 5-1 Sagehens. But, the scoring in the second quarter was even closer with 5-2. Going into the second half of the game the Tigers were down 10-3. While a seven goal differential may seem big, the Tigers kept the Sagehens to one of their lowest scoring first halves all season. Occidental lacrosse's first goal of the game was scored by first-year midfielder Maeve Moylan off of an assist from senior attacker and captain Cara Bekas. The remaining three goals of the game were scored off of free position shots. Overall, Moylan had two goals and first-year attacker Olivia Okamoto also had two. When Olivia Okamoto was asked about her contributions last night, she explained, "The attack really worked together and made the ball move quickly to lead to my free position shots. All of our goals were team efforts instead of just single person drives."

The two goal scorers for the Tigers received first-team all SCIAC honors for their contributions to the team this season. Both first-years dominated the draw circle and attacking end of the field and ended with a total of 42 (Okamoto) and 49 (Moylan) points. During the season, they both received the honor of SCIAC Offensive Athlete of the Week. It is truly remarkable that this is their first year of college play. The overall impact they have had on Occidental's team is apparent, and it will only grow as they continue their career at Oxy.

Okamoto and Moylan also dominated the draw circle for the Tigers. They had four draw controls each and remained competitive with the Sagehens throughout the game. At the end of the first half, the Sagehens only had one more draw control than the Tigers. Both athletes made impactful contributions to ground ball pick-ups as well. While Moylan led the team with five, she was joined by many others in her fight for the 50/50 balls. Next up, junior attacker, Ariel Shweiki, had four pick-ups. Other than them, seven Tigers picked up two ground balls: Sydney Acol, Ellie Mahoney, Bella Kwan, Ava Whelan, Emma Cho, Olivia Okamoto, and Anna Thomas. The amount of Tigers who received this impressive stat just demonstrates how much hustle everyone was putting in on the field.

Finally, Maeve Moylan, junior attacker and captain Halle Knutson, and sophomore goalie Andie Angelacci all played important roles in changing the momentum for the Tigers. Moylan had three caused turnovers, Knutson had two caused turnovers, and Angelacci had an incredible 15 saves. Angelacci's impact on the team was powerful as this season, Angelacci was voted Most Valuable Player (MVP) by her teammates and received second-team all SCIAC honors. Angelacci was joined in this accomplishment by junior midfielder and captain Bella Kwan.

Overall, the Tigers put up a good fight against the first-seeded Sagehens. When asked for her thoughts on the game, first-year defender Sydney Acol recalled, "I think we had a really good first half. I don't think they were ready for us." The Tigers came out strong and fought hard for all 60 minutes of play. While they made mistakes in the second half due to fatigue, their accomplishments in the first half do not go unnoticed.

Looking towards next year, the Tigers will miss their seniors, Anna Thomas and Cara Bekas, who were remarkable leaders for them this season. However, they look forward to facing Pomona-Pitzer again. It's exciting to think about what this team will accomplish in the next few years as they are a young team (with underclassmen making up 14/20 of their players). Congrats on a great season!