Whittier, CA – On Saturday, March 30th, the Tigers traveled to Whittier, CA to face off in their first game against the Poets this season. The last time Occidental played at Memorial Stadium, they lost in overtime against Whittier College, so they came out strong to secure the win; the final score was 23-3 Tigers.

After the first whistle, senior midfielder and captain, Isabella Kwan, earned the first draw control for the Tigers, setting the tone for the game. After a few minutes of play, Olivia Okamoto, sophomore attacker, scored the Tigers' first goal off a drive, and Occidental's momentum continued. 

During the first half, three Tigers earned hat tricks (junior attacker Emma Cho, junior midfielder Ella Skoglund, and Okamoto), and the score was 14-0 Occidental going into halftime. The closest goals were scored only 15 seconds apart by Skoglund and Cho in the first quarter. While eight of Occidental's players scored throughout the game, Okamoto led the team in goals (6), followed by senior attacker and captain Halle Knutson (4), Cho (4), and Skoglund (3). 10 of the Tigers' 23 goals were scored off of assists with the main feeders being junior attacker, Gabriella Acker (2), and sophomore midfielder, Maeve Moylan (2).

Importantly, Occidental won the game, but they also won the fight in the midfield. The Tigers had 11 of 17 total ground balls: Knutson and another senior attacker, Ariel Shweiki, led the charge on the offensive end while junior goalie, Andie Angelacci earned the most in the defensive end. Shweiki had three ground balls, followed by Angelacci and Knutson who both got two. Angelacci also orchestrated her defense to achieve 100% success on clears and was 50% on saves. On the draw circle, the Tigers dominated, winning 21 of 29 draws (almost 73%). First-year defender Evie Kim won six draws (as both the draw taker and a circle player) and sophomore midfielder Elise Mahoney won five (she is a very scrappy circle player).

Even though it was raining when they arrived, the Tigers had a blast playing against the Poets. Attackers Cho and Acker even took some reps as midfielders and caused turnovers at the top of the eight meter in their defensive end. The energy on the field was fun and motivating. The sun came out at the end of the game and followed the Tigers back home to Occidental College.