Occidental is having a historic athletic year, with two SCIAC tournament wins. This fall, men’s soccer brought home the SCIAC title for the first time in school history, and this spring, women’s basketball claimed the SCIAC title for the first time since 2011. Both teams advanced to play in the NCAA DIII tournament, representing Occidental College on the national stage.
According to men’s soccer head coach Rod Lafaurie, their SCIAC win was a long time coming.
“I say that with all my guys, I think you have to be a champion first,” Lafaurie said. “We always saw ourselves as the standard, and we just had to win the championship to validate that. I know that from our side, we always see ourselves as a standard and we’ll continue to see that, but it’s just the validation component for me. It’s nice to hoist trophies. It helps with recruiting, it helps with fundraising, it helps with general knowledge of our program.”
Women’s basketball head coach Anahit Aladzhanyan ’07 said their SCIAC win was proof of her athlete’s dedication.
“It feels great, and it’s been a while since we have felt this way, but I think we really try to emphasize the journey each season and putting our best foot forward,” Aladzhanyan said. “Definitely winning a championship feels great because you finally see all your work pay off. But with that, I’ve also been proud of the seasons and teams along the way as well.”
For both women’s basketball and men’s soccer, winning the SCIAC tournament ensured them an automatic bid to the NCAA DIII tournament. Men’s soccer advanced to the round of 16 and women’s basketball fell in the first round.
According to Lafaurie, the SCIAC win and the opportunity to play on the national stage has an impact on the larger Occidental community.
“For the school, I hope it is a light,” Lafaurie said. “I hope it’s a way to show that this can be helpful for a lot of things, not just the academic programs, not just athletic programs. It can help with fundraising; it can help with eyeballs, and it can help with more applications from other students. I think we’re trying to make all our sports more competitive, and I think we’re doing that. I hope it’s more just for the school, for the fans.”
According to Sebastian Romero (senior) a center back for the men’s soccer team, their performance in the NCAA tournament was a good way to get Occidental’s name recognition in terms of athletics.
“I think for a lot of the guys, it gives a really valuable experience of this, what it takes to make it this far and, and do what we did,” Romero said. “So, I think that will inspire guys like next year to like to play to that same standard or even higher. We want to win the national championship instead of just winning SCIACS for sure.”
For Romero personally, finishing the season with a SCIAC win was the perfect way to close out his DIII athletic career, and that after four years, he has learned that DIII sports is all about passion.
According to Gabriela Etopio (senior), a guard for women’s basketball, playing a DIII sport and winning the SCIAC championship fundamentally changed her.
“I think it’s really helped me evolve into the person that I am,” Etopio said. “I wasn’t even sure if I was going to play basketball at the college level. I’ve really been able to develop my leadership skills and I think it’s been really hard to be a student athlete. I take a lot of pride in that and especially being a captain of a championship game is something that I’m never going to take for granted.”
For Ethan Carr (first year), his first season on the men’s soccer team gave him a similar perspective on DIII athletics, and he said that the fan base truly made the difference.
“I really did feel like me and the whole team fed off the energy of the crowd. I think it gave us boosts when we needed them and when we were already up, it really helped us keep going,” Carr said. “Just seeing that support makes you automatically want to play harder, seeing your friends out there and just the rest of the school out there, knowing that you have the backing of your fans.”
Abigael Forgue (junior) said that she attended most of the men’s soccer and women’s basketball games.
“The energy at the games was that people were excited to be champions. People were excited because it felt like you were part of the win if you were there,” Forgue said. “After the game, everyone rushed onto the field for soccer. And when watching the women’s basketball, they all just ran to each other and gave each other a huge hug. In some ways it felt like everyone sitting in the stands was part of that, part of that win, part of that hug at the end.”
According to Etopio, the moment at the end of the SCIAC championship game was one of her most memorable college experiences. Etopio said that during her sophomore year, the women’s basketball team didn’t even make it to the conference tournament, so winning the SCIAC title this year took a lot of hard work and dedication.
“We realized that we had all the pieces that we could use to win and so at the beginning of the year, we took it really seriously,” Etopio said. “We really held each other accountable to a higher standard that I think in previous years we really hadn’t. What shifted this year was that we all collectively had in mind that we could actually win. And there’s a lot of people who supported us over the years no matter what it looked like, like our practice team and our fan base.”
Aladzhanyan said that their SCIAC win shows how investing in athletics — and in women’s athletics specifically — can pay off.
“If you go to a game, the atmosphere is so electric,” Aladzhanyan said. “It’s awesome and it can really bring a sense of school pride and a sense of belonging to our students in general and our campus community. I just really hope that more and more people come out to games and kind of feel what we feel.”
According to Aladzhanyan, the SCIAC win proved something for both her players, and for the entire college.
“One of the days right after our SCIAC win, we said, ‘We knew we were champions and now everyone else knows it too,’” Aladzhanyan said.
Contact Nora Youngelson at youngelson@oxy.edu
