Los Angeles, CA — The Oxy men's soccer team was in action at Patterson Field for the SCIAC home opener against the Whittier College Poets on Saturday night. 

Oxy was able to create a shot opportunity early on when Christian Corcoran attempted to score with a header off of a nice pass but just narrowly missed putting the Tigers ahead. Despite an early chance for Oxy, it was Whittier that scored the first goal of the game with a shot that snuck into the lower left side of the goal.

Oxy remained determined and continued to make good passes to create scoring opportunities while being down 1-0. The Tigers broke through and got on the board in the 26th minute of the game when Andrew Notter found Aiden Aley with a perfectly located pass that Aley deposited into the back of the net with his right leg. 

With the game tied, both teams ramped up their defensive efforts with each team aiming to gain a one-goal advantage. Oxy found the hole in the Whittier defense just before the end of the 1st half and it was Notter once again for the Tigers. This time Matt Shea placed a beautiful pass for Notter to finish off with a header that got by the Whitter keeper to give Oxy the 2-1 advantage heading into the half. 

Oxy would extend the lead to two goals about halfway through the 2nd half on an impressive goal from Christian Corcoran who controlled a pass from Charlie Miller, gathered the ball again and got the ball past the Whittier goalie. The Tigers would keep putting pressure on the Whittier defense after the goal by getting more shots and controlling possession often. 

Whittier had a look at the goal with less than 15 minutes to go in the game, but Riley Nyhan deflected the ball off course with a nice save to keep the score 3-1. The Poets got a few more shots off before the end of the game, but none of them threatened the goal. 

After surrendering the first goal of the game, the Tigers bounced back to score the next three goals and secure a 3-1 victory over Whittier to improve to 4-1-1 on the season and 2-0 in SCIAC play. 

The Tigers next game is scheduled for Wednesday September 25th against Pomona-Pitzer at Jack Kemp Stadium.