Author: Tim O’Donnell
Occidental men’s soccer (3-16 overall, 2-14 SCIAC) could not muster a win on Wednesday’s Senior Night, falling to Pomona-Pitzer (8-11-1 overall, 7-8-1 SCIAC) 2-1 in a hard-fought match. The team then rebounded in the final game of the season with a 2-0 victory over Caltech Saturday.
The black and orange had five seniors who suited up for their last college home game. Drake Berglund, Marcus Brandford, Christian Buchmann, Alex Duvoisin and Ryan Keong were honored with jerseys signed by their younger teammates before the contest. Fellow senior and former team captain Douglas Pentland, whose leadership remained a constant presence this year despite a season-ending injury, also received recognition for the time he devoted to the squad.
On the pitch, the match remained scoreless through the first half, with the Sagehens recording seven shots (three on goal) to the Tigers six (one on goal). Though neither team found the back of the net, the opening 45 minutes were full of activity. The Tigers came out the gates in aggressive style, getting tagged with four yellow cards.
After returning from the locker room, it took Occidental just 53 seconds to get on the scoreboard. Sophomore Connor Freeman hit the crossbar on a shot that ricocheted straight to Grayson Burden (first-year). Burden then found Brandford for his sixth goal (12 points) of the season, giving the Tigers a 1-0 lead.
“I missed a couple early that I couldn’t put away, so it was a huge relief,” Brandford said. “Once I saw it go in, I just got to finally celebrate with my fellow players and kind of have that moment with them, which is a really good memory from the final game on [Patterson] Field.”
Minutes later, goalkeeper Tristan Cooper (sophomore) made three saves in the span of thirty seconds, all off the foot of Sagehen forward Nathan Sheikita (junior) to keep the black and orange’s lead in tact. Cooper recorded nine saves on the evening.
Controversy struck in the 75th minute when Freeman once again hit the bottom of the crossbar. As the ball descended and hit the ground, it appeared to have cleared the goal line before bouncing into the keeper’s hands. The Occidental players and bench began their celebration, but the officials ruled that the ball did not cross, and play continued.
Following the disputed non-goal, the Sagehens finally broke through the Tiger defense and got to Cooper, scoring twice in three minutes to take a 2-1 lead. First-year forward Voja Maric scored the first goal and then assisted midfielder Harris Levin (senior) for the second.
Freeman and Brandford each had another chance at the putting away the equalizer, but Sagehen goalkeeper Nigel Brady (junior) made the save both times.
The clock wound down to zero and the Occidental seniors walked off the Patterson Field pitch for the final time.
Keong, who, along with Buchmann, transferred to Occidental prior to his junior season, expressed his gratitude toward the program despite the difficult season.
“It was an experience I wouldn’t trade for anything else,” he said.
The unit redeemed itself in its season finale against Caltech three days later, scoring twice in the final 20 minutes and shutting out the Beavers, 2-0.
Sophomore midfielder Munraj Singh found the back of the net in the 72nd minute unassisted for his second goal (four points) of the campaign. In the match’s waning moments (89th minute), defender Garrett Schwab (junior) effectively iced the contest, scoring his first goal of the season off a Michael Tonetti (sophomore) corner kick.
The squad’s only two conference victories of the season came against last-place Caltech and lost seven one-goal games. But head coach Rod Lafaurie is nevertheless proud of his team.
“Effort has been fantastic all year, and they played really well,” he said. “It’s part of the sport, sometimes you’re just unlucky.”
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