The Occidental College Tigers traveled to Redlands, CA to play the Bulldogs in a conference match-up. Given a tumultuous history with their away game at Redlands, the Tigers' goal was to remain calm and take care of business. Occidental's team was able to stay collected throughout the entire game and blew the Bulldogs out of the water in the final quarter. Occidental's team was glad to end their streak of Spring Break games with a conference win.
The game was back and forth from the start; the Tigers' senior midfielder and captain, Bella Kwan, scored first off of an assist from junior, Dylan Herbert. But, then, Redlands answered back, scoring almost exactly a minute after Kwan. Luckily, the Tigers went on a three goal run until Redlands scored the final goal of the quarter, ending the first 4-2 Tigers. The second quarter was similar as both teams battled and traded off the lead. However, after half-time Occidental's one goal lead started to grow, and the game ended 18-11 Tigers. While the teams were even in ground ball pick-ups and draw controls, the Tigers ran away with the game in the fourth quarter.
The Tigers' had eight goal scorers with three players earning hat tricks: senior captains, Bella Kwan and Halle Knutson, and sophomore midfielder, Maeve Moylan. Next, four Tigers scored two goals: sophomores, Olivia Okamoto and Ava Whelan, and juniors, Gabriella Acker and Dylan Herbet. Two of the Tigers' most notable goals of the game were Acker's twizzler as she came across the right side of the goal and Moylan's play where she caused a turnover in the defensive end, carried the ball the length of the field, and scored immediately after entering the eight meter. Additionally, after being out for over a year from an injury, Herbet has scored two goals in the last three games for the Tigers. It is awesome to have her back. Also leading the team on the offensive end, Okamoto is currently ranked third overall in the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) for goals per game.
Moylan and Okamoto were not just on fire in the twelve but also had amazing plays in the midfield. The sophomores led the team in ground balls (four each) and caused turnovers (two each). Additionally, Moylan was unstoppable on the draw circle, earning nine draw controls for the Tigers. At this point in the season, Moylan is ranked second in draws per game out of all SCIAC players. Finally, junior goalie, Andie Angelacci had an incredible game with nine saves. She saved three of the four free position shots taken against her (a remarkable 75% save percentage). Importantly, two of those four shots were taken back-to-back in the fourth quarter, and Angelacci saved both of them.
The Tigers recouped after a busy game schedule. Between March 2nd and March 14th, Occidental played six games in 12 days (and won four of them). They were happy to have time to recover and work on some new stuff during practice. Please join the Tigers in Jack Kemp stadium for their last non-conference game of the year on Wednesday, March 27th at 7:00pm. The Tigers last faced the Willamette University Bearcats in 2022 and are excited to play them again at home.
