Photo by samsphotoservices.com

Los Angeles, CA — The Occidental women's soccer team celebrated the academic and athletic accomplishments of their three senior student-athletes in their last game of the season on Saturday. 

As a light rain fell on a Los Angeles night, Clare Madden, Anna Fukushima and Gigi Yamamoto took photos on the field as they were supported by friends and family, acknowledging all of their hard work and dedication to Oxy Athletics for the last 4 years. 

Once the game began, Fukushima would be able to take two shots on goal very early on, but the Redlands keeper made a save on each one to prevent the Tigers from scoring. After Redlands took a shot that Melanie Rodriguez made a save on, the Bulldogs were able to score a goal in the 27th minute to take a 1-0 lead. 

Like Fukushima, Clare Madden also took two shots in the half, but the Bulldog goalkeeper made a save on one to continue to make stops on Oxy attacks. The game would enter the halftime break with Redlands maintaining their one goal lead. 

After about 20 minutes passed in the 2nd half, the Tigers got an opportunity to secure the tying goal. A nicely placed corner kick led to chaos in the box as an initial header from Clare Madden was blocked from being a goal by a Bulldog defender. 

However, on the ricochet the ball went straight to Anna Fukushima who used her right foot to take a shot that would've been a goal without the Redlands defender committing a handball violation to stop the ball. 

After the refs gathered to discuss, they confirmed the Tigers had tied the game at 1-1 with the goal from Fukushima. As the light rain intensified throughout the night, so did the intensity of the game on the field. 

Both teams were battling for possession and playing tough defense, but eventually a foul on the Tigers in the penalty box led to a penalty kick for the Bulldogs. The Redlands player would be able to knock down the goal and give a 2-1 lead to UR.

Logan Morris would be able to create a shot to score late in the game for the Tigers, but the ball sailed out top left and the Bulldogs held on to win the game.