LOS ANGELES, Calif. – The Macalester College water polo team embarked on a four-match trip to California that started with a narrow 10-9 loss at Occidental College on Tuesday at the De Mandel Aquatics Center. The loss gives the Scots a 6-4 record on the season, while the Tigers improve to 6-8.

Macalester scored two goals in the first two minutes, as senior Kendall Coney (League City, Texas/Clear Creek) and junior Jess Palmer-Sammons (Half Moon Bay, Calif./Half Moon Bay) found the net for an early 2-0 lead. Occidental responded by scoring the next five goals to take a 5-2 advantage midway through the second quarter. With time winding down, Coney and first year Anna Gaisser (Seattle, Wash./Ingraham) tallied goals in the final minute of the quarter to make the halftime score 5-4 Tigers.

After an Occidental goal early in the third quarter, Gaisser and senior Elizabeth Matlin (Buffalo Grove, Ill./Adlai E. Stevenson) answered to tie the score at 6-6. With 2:07 left in the third, Palmer-Sammons scored her second goal of the game to put the Scots up, 7-6. In the fourth quarter, the Tigers tallied a goal just 15 seconds in to tie the score at 7-7. The goal sparked a 3-0 run for Occidental over the first 1:30 of the final quarter to lead 9-7.

Gaisser notched her third goal of the game to end the run, only to have the Tigers score again to restore their two-goal lead, 10-8 with four minutes left. Senior Sian Lewandowski (North Haven, Conn./Williston Northampton) made it a one-goal game with her tally with 2:42 remaining, but that's as close as it would get. Occidental would allow just one shot the rest of the way to hold on to win.

Junior goalkeeper Jayden Kratt (Palo Alto, Calif./Henry M. Gunn) faced 21 shots on goal and made 11 saves, as the Scots were out-shot, 21-15.

Macalester plays at Caltech on Thursday, Mar. 20 at 7:00 p.m. Central in Pasadena, Calif.

MAC – 2 2 3 2 - 9
Oxy – 3 2 1 4 - 10
Macalester goals: Gaisser 3, Coney 2, Palmer-Sammons 2, Matlin, Lewandowski