Photo by: Tony Leon/ActionWestPhotography.com

LOS ANGELES – Occidental kept its hopes for a SCIAC title alive while it knocked out the Whittier College women's soccer team from playoff contention with a 1-0 win on Saturday night.

The Tigers (10-2-2, 8-1-1 SCIAC) broke a scoreless tie at 52:06 with the lone goal of the game to remain in a first place tie with Cal Lutheran. The loss drops the Poets to 2-7-1 in conference play; 2.5 games out of fourth place with two games remaining.

Megan Wessel turned in another solid outing for the purple and gold posting nine saves in 90 minutes between the sticks.

Whittier was outshot 19-5 for the game but only allowed nine shots on target. The Poets had five total shots from five different players. Shelly Johiro, Breeann Yamada, Hannah Cooley, Briana Johnson and Meghan Gran recorded the shots for WC.

The Poets won two corners for the game while Occidental had three.

Whittier will look to make an impact on the conference race as it hosts Cal Lutheran on Wednesday evening. The Regals defeated the Poets 1-0 earlier this season, are currently 8-1-1 in the conference and ranked No. 19 in the nation. The game is set for a 7 pm start.