Author: Ryan Graff
The Occidental College women’s soccer team is used to going
deep into minutes and closing out games. Six of the Tigers’ first 10 matches
went into overtime — five into double-overtime — with seven of the team’s 14
goals in that span coming in the second half.
But the black and orange entered Whittier’s Graham Soccer Field on Saturday night fresh off Wednesday’s double-overtime draw against Redlands in which neither team could notch the golden goal after 110 minutes of play and finally got a taste of what it’s like to open.
Senior forward Elissa Minamishin started the scoring in the 8th minute, putting a through-ball from midfielder Michaela Tsuha (sophomore) in the back of the net. The goal was Minamishin’s fifth of the season (12 points), moving her into the outright team-lead. She scored just two goals (five points) all of last season.
Unfortunately for the black and orange, however, the contest also marked the first time in which the Tigers have been beaten by more than one goal on the 2013 campaign.
Junior midfielder Madison Shipherd scored a heroic triplet for the Poets in a 10-minute span between the 21st minute and 32nd minute, recording her first career hat trick to go along with two first-team All-SCIAC selections. Sophomore midfielder Courtney Maddux and forward Rosemarie Orlando (senior) each assisted one of Shipherd’s goals, while the other was unassisted.
Though the Tigers outshot Whittier 17-8 overall and 11-0 in the second half, neither squad could not muster a goal in the final 45 minutes, and Occidental fell 3-1 to a Poets team they were able to beat 5-0 at Patterson Field back on Sept. 18.
With just six conference matches left, the Tigers (3-6-2 overall, 2-5-1 SCIAC) look to make the most of a two-game home stand against Pomona-Pitzer and Cal Lutheran. Kickoffs are scheduled at Patterson Field for Wednesday at 7 p.m. and Saturday at 11 a.m., respectively.
This article has been archived, for more requests please contact us via the support system.
