PASADENA, Calif. - On Wednesday, in Caltech's opening soccer match on its home field, the Beavers squared off against the Tigers of Occidental College in each squad's first SCIAC contest of 2010. Neither team was able to get on the board until a Oxy conversion in the 28th minute of the second half proved to be the only goal of the day.

From the very beginning of the match, the teams refused to give ground as action went back and forth with limited shots on goal. Even with a combined 17 corners, 11 by the visitors and six from the hosts, nobody was able to put the ball in the net. Occidental spent more time on the offensive side of the field, but Caltech goalkeeper Marcus Lucas did his job with six saves in the contest.

As the second half opened, the Tigers began to put more pressure on. An assumed goal midway through the stanza was waved off due to an offsides call, but Oxy did not back down. Several minutes later, Oxy senior captain Kosa Goucher-Lambert managed to recover and score off a loose ball just a second after another tremendous save by Lucas.

Up 1-0, the Tigers held off a steady rally by the Beavers as a flurry of headers and attempts were off target in the closing minutes. The shutout gave Oxy its first victory of the campaign.

Occidental (1-3, 1-0 SCIAC) found revenge after Caltech (0-1, 0-1) took a game from the Tigers late last season by one score (2-1). The Tigers will try to keep the Beavers at bay on October 9 when the two teams meet again.

Caltech next faces Cal Lutheran (0-3, 0-1) this Saturday in Thousand Oaks at 1 pm.

(Photo of Brice Nzeukou courtesy of Lan Huong Nguyen)