With the exception of surrendering a penalty-kick goal in the first half, the University of Redlands men’s soccer team played flawlessly against Occidental College on Saturday in Redlands, defeating the Tigers, 3-1.

After losing to Whittier College for the first time since 1997 on Wednesday, the Bulldogs battled back with a resounding victory over Occidental and started to look like eight-time defending Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) champions.

Senior midfielder Jeff Willey (Medina, WA) struck first in the 13th minute, burying a goal off a clean pass by junior midfielder John Brookover (Boise, ID).

Just one minute after entering the match, freshman forward Alex Laughton (Pleasanton, CA) found the back of the net. The Tiger goalkeeper struggled to gain possession of the ball, allowing it to roll past the goal line. Senior forward Nick Gundersen (Park City, UT) continued to distribute at a mind-boggling clip, notching his fifth assist of the season on the play.

With 19 ticks in the first half, Occidental’s Rob Tuttlebee took a hard foul in the box and received a penalty-kick opportunity. His shot went to the right of senior goalkeeper Evan Hobson (San Diego, CA) and graced the twine to put the score at 2-1 in favor of the Bulldogs heading into the break.

Finally, Brookover closed out scoring at 65:19. He took advantage of the Tiger goalkeeper’s botched attempt to control the ball on a cross, ripping a shot inside of the box to the center of the net.

Hobson faced just one shot on goal and picked up the win for Redlands. With the victory, he moves to 2-3-1 on the season in net. Occidental’s Ian Powell shouldered the loss despite making six stops.

The Bulldogs outshot Occidental, 24-10, including 14-6 margin in the second half. Both teams were fairly even on corner-kick opportunities as the Maroon and Gray slightly outchanced the Tigers, 7-6.

Redlands (2-3-1, 1-1 SCIAC) faces a daunting schedule next week, playing three games in six days. The team hosts Chapman University on Monday at 7 p.m. on Farquhar Field before taking to the road on Wednesday against Caltech and again on Saturday versus Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges.