Orange, CA – On Saturday, March 2nd, the Occidental Tiger's lacrosse team traveled to Orange, California to face off against the Chapman University Panthers. The Tigers' first away game of the season was spirited, ending with a hard fought 19-13 loss against the Panthers.
Occidental started the game off strong, scoring the first goal of the game just a minute and 45 seconds in. Bella Kwan, senior midfielder and captain, led the Tigers' early momentum scoring four goals in the first half. Two of Kwan's four goals were assisted by junior midfielder and resident leftie: Ella Skoglund. However, Kwan was not the only Tiger to earn a hat track in the game. Sophomore attacker, Olivia Okamoto, scored three goals, and the last two for the Tigers.
With just 5:09 left in the second quarter, the Tigers led 8 to 3. However, the Panthers answered back, scoring two consecutive goals just thirteen seconds apart. Still, Occidental ended the first half up by three goals. During halftime, Coaches Slack and Boz urged the Tigers to stay composed and hungry for the second half of the game.
Unfortunately, while the Tigers won the first quarter four to three and the second quarter four to two, the game got away from them in the third quarter. Occidental started strong, scoring off of the first draw control of the second half but did not go on a run again until late in the fourth quarter. The opening goal was Okamoto's first and her favorite. She loved connecting with another sophomore, Maeve Moylan, and explained "I feel like the whole play was well set up and started the third quarter on a high."
The Tigers fought hard and passionately, winning in over all ground ball pick-ups and scoring during man-down sets. Junior goalie, Andie Angelacci, led the team with five ground balls followed by first-year defender, Evie Kim (4), and senior attacker and captain, Halle Knutson (3). The first-year defenders Kim and Ellie Einstein were on fire, leading the team with three caused turnovers each.
The team worked together until the very end with four consecutive goals at the beginning of the second quarter and at the end of the fourth quarter. Additionally, all of the Tigers goals in the first half were assisted except for one free position goal by junior attacker, Emma Cho. Moylan, Skoglund, and sophomore midfielder, Ava Whelan, each had two assists.
Chapman is a historically emotional game for the Tigers, and unfortunately, that got the best of them at the Ernie Chapman Stadium. Both teams were issued a total of 21 cards, mostly green, but with one being red; this resulted in Chapman having nine man-up opportunities as opposed to Occidental's four. However, goalie Angelacci had a crucial eleven saves for the Tigers.
