The University of Redlands men's soccer team defeated Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) opponent Occidental College on Saturday in Eagle Rock, registering a hat trick en route to taking down the Tigers, 3-1.
Sophomore midfielder Pat Roraff (Redlands, CA) continued his recent hot streak by scoring within the first minute of action. He has now netted a total of three goals in the past three games.
Less than two minutes later, Redlands pushed its lead to two as senior forward Cody Carlson (Burbank, CA) collected his team-leading fourth netter of the 2011 season. Junior midfielder Gabe Ramirez (Pasadena, CA) dished out an assist to Carlson on the play.
Junior midfielder Alex Laughton (Pleasanton, CA) completed the Maroon and Gray's first-half hat trick with his inaugural goal of the year. He headed in the score off of sophomore midfielder Will Walker's (Folsom, CA) corner kick in the 37th minute.
The Tigers notched their lone score late in the second half as junior forward Ben Murray (Sandpoint, ID) connected on a penalty kick.
UR's starting defensive third of seniors Danny Day (Beaverton, OR) and Sean Cruz (The Woodlands, TX), as well as junior Brad Jackson (Medina, WA) and sophomore Richie Marquez (Pomona, CA), starred for the Bulldogs by holding Oxy to only seven shots in the contest.
The goalkeeping duo of sophomore Andreas Silva (San Jose, CA) and senior Jason Smuckler (Woodland Hills, CA) provided a solid effort between the pipes.
Redlands (5-3-0, 3-0-0 SCIAC) faces off against the 24th-ranked Banana Slugs of UC Santa Cruz in an important regional match at 5 p.m. on Farquhar Field.