Occidental Celebrates No. 1 National Ranking with Win over Whittier

LOS ANGELES, Calif. (April 8, 2009) – Earlier today the Tigers got word that they had been voted the No. 1 ranked team in Division III. This afternoon they came out firing in Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference action, easily defeating the visiting Whittier College Poets by a score of 11-2 en route to their sixth consecutive victory.

A four-goal first quarter was all the offense the Tigers would need in the game as they held Whittier scoreless in the opening frame, allowing just one goal in each of the next two periods, while adding one in the second quarter and three in each of the final two quarters.

Julie Monday scored in the second, third and fourth quarters to lead the Tigers with a hat-trick, single handedly defeating the entire Poets team, offensively. She also added two assists.

Corinne Casey got the scoring started three minutes into the game and Kelley Curtain added the first of two goals to put the Tigers up 2-0. The third and ultimate winning goal came from the arm of freshman Helen Zukin with 1:52 remaining in the first stanza before classmate Tessa Bailey-Findley netted the fourth goal of the game came 38 seconds before the buzzer to give Oxy a 4-0 lead at the end of one quarter.

Karie Nickle also scored a pair of goals while Rebecca Hofer tallied a team-high three assists. Bailey-Findley and Curtain each dished out a pair of assists as well.

Defensively Bailey-Findley was a difference maker with seven steals and a field block. Curtain and Nickle also had a field block apiece and Monday added three steals to her stats on the day.

Whittier (6-15, 0-4 SCIAC) looked to Xenia Castillo for both goals but that was all they would get as Lauren Simanonok blocked seven shots and Andrea Savage added one of her own in the final quarter of action.

Occidental improves to 13-8 overall and remains undefeated in SCIAC play at 4-0. One of Oxy’s toughest games of the season will be this Saturday when the Tigers travel to Claremont, Calif. to take on the former No. 1 ranked Pomona-Pitzer Sagehens who dropped to No. 3 with a15-7, 3-1 SCIAC record. Teams will take off for the first sprint at 11:00 a.m.