WHITTIER, Calif. — Occidental defeated Whittier College 1-0 on Wednesday. Occidental kept Whittier off the scoreboard through a late stretch of the match that included six Whittier attacking actions. Occidental scored in the first half, and
Melanie Rodriguez made four saves as the team finished off the shutout.
Alessia Sacchi put Occidental in front at 34:47, scoring the opening goal. Sacchi gained possession of the ball about 20 yards from the goal and after a quick gather fired the ball into the back of the net using her right foot.
Occidental generated chances throughout the half, with
Sophia Weigt and
Mia Merkelbach putting shots wide in the opening 10 minutes before
Zakrie Smith,
Mia Steadman and
Bella Calemine added attempts.
Steadman forced a save from Sofia Lopez at 20:44, and Sacchi had another look high in the 30th minute before the goal came five minutes later. Whittier responded with a shot off the crossbar at 35:26 and a late attempt saved by
Melanie Rodriguez at 44:14, but Occidental carried the 1-0 advantage into halftime.
Occidental kept Whittier off the board throughout the second half to close out a 1-0 win, with Rodriguez making three saves after halftime. Earlier,
Maile Fukushima put Occidental's first look of the half high in the 47th minute before Whittier pressed from 51:29 to 55:05 with multiple shots and corners, including a Rodriguez save.
Occidental earned a corner through
Jordyn Tribus at 58:08, but Whittier continued to generate set-piece pressure later in the half. Rodriguez stopped shots at 79:11 and 84:03, and Occidental absorbed a late run of Whittier corners and headers through the 88th minute to finish the shutout.
Occidental Top Performers
Alessia Sacchi
----------------------
- one goal
- game-winning goal
- two shots
Melanie Rodriguez
----------------------
- four saves
- shutout
- 90:00 in goal
Occidental is now 2-4-0 overall and 2-1-0 in SCIAC play. Whittier is 2-5-1 overall and 0-2-0 in conference play.
