Box Score Photo by: Tony Leon/ActionWestPhotography.com
LOS ANGELES, Calif. – The Whittier College men's soccer team for the second time this season has cruised past the Tigers of Occidental College as they rolled to a 4-0 victory Wednesday afternoon.
The Poets now run their record to 8-8 overall and 8-5 in SCIAC play, while Occidental falls to 4-13 and 4-9 in SCIAC.
For the third straight season the Poets have made it to the SCIAC Tournament and are currently the No. 4 seed but it all comes down to this Saturday, October 29 beginning at 1pm when the Purple and Gold take on the Sagehens of Pomona-Pitzer in a re-match that decides the final two seeds. If Whittier win's they become the No. 3 seed and will take on Claremont-M-S and with a loss they stay at No. 4 and will travel to take on the Bulldogs of the University of Redlands.
Within this afternoon's contest, the Poets controlled every facet of the game from the offensive side of the ball to the defensive side. Whittier controlled the intensity and tempo and were driven to make a statement heading into Saturday's RAGE the CAGE.
Freshman Devin Guthrie got the Poets on the scoreboard first in the 19th minute as he centered a ball in the box that he squared up and tapped in with his right foot thanks to a through ball put in by Adolfo Santos. This was Guthrie's fourth goal of the season.
Two minutes later the Poets came down the field and senior Sam Russell connected on one of his three goals in the game by knocking in a ball that deflected off of Tiger goalkeeper Andrew Larkin.
But Whittier wasn't done there as Russell came back down with just under five minutes remaining in the half to knock in a header that was sent into the box by Santos to help Whittier go into the half up 3-0.
Coming out of intermission, Whittier continued to play aggressive soccer and picked up the intensity but only managed two shots rounding out their total for the game to five. Nine minutes into the second half, Russell knocked in his third goal of the contest and his seventh on the season by knocking in another header sent into the box by Santos. That put the Poets up 4-0 and gave them a lead they would not relinquish.
The Purple and Gold look to get revenge on the Sagehens of Pomona-Pitzer from their earlier 1-0 loss in the season and look to obtain the No. 3 seed Saturday, October 29 beginning at 1:00pm.
