Men’s soccer nets its second SCIAC title in three years, while women’s soccer and men’s water polo return to postseason play after sensational seasons
For the second time in three years, the Oxy men’s soccer team punched its ticket to the NCAA National Tournament, securing a 1-0 victory over Redlands on November before a boisterous home crowd at Patterson Field. Following a scoreless first half, the match remained knotted until the 64th minute of play, when Charlie Miller ’27 broke through, assisted by Elijah Edelman ’27, to score what would be the winning goal. Oxy’s defense also played a critical role, with goalkeeper Sammy Gramlich ’27 recording a late save to maintain the shutout.
One week later in Minneapolis, the Tigers fell to No. 2 seed Augsburg University, 3-1, in the opening round of the tournament. Oxy finished the season with a 10-6-4 record. Trailing 3-0, the Tigers’ lone goal came in the second half, when Tyler Na-Nakornpanom ’26 finished off his career with an assist from Justin Nishimoto ’26 in the 77th minute to get the Tigers on the scoreboard.
In All-SCIAC honors, Oxy forward Devin Bening ’28 was named Offensive Athlete of the Year. Bening led the line for a potent Tigers offense that scored a conference-leading 27 goals. Bening topped the individual conference scoring chart with eight goals in 11 games. Other First Team honorees included Cooper Gersch ’27 and Vicente Navarro ’26, while Aden Aley ’26 and Ayden Rieke-Wey ’28 were named Second Team.
It was a comeback season for women’s soccer, which rode its first win in the SCIAC tournament since 2018 all the way to the conference semifinal. The Tigers fell to No. 1 seed Pomona-Pitzer on November 5, 3-0, to end their season at 8-7-2.
The Tigers were sparked by the play of Mia Steadman ’27, an economics major from Palo Alto. The 5'5" forward was named SCIAC Offensive Athlete of the Week on October 6—the first Oxy women’s soccer player so honored since the award’s introduction.
In men’s water polo, the Tigers overcame choppy nonconference waters en route to a 6-6 conference finish, earning them the No. 4 seed in the SCIAC Tournament. Oxy’s season ended on November 18 with a 16-11 loss to Whittier at De Mandel Aquatics Center.
Seniors Jack Schroeder and Travis Hughes were named Second Team All-SCIAC. It’s the first All-SCIAC honor for Schroeder, who was twice named SCIAC Defensive Athlete of the Week this season. The Tigers keeper led the conference in saves (239), was third in save percentage (.385), and earned nine of the Tigers’ 11 wins in goal, including all six conference victories, helping the Tigers to their first SCIAC Tournament berth since 2022.
In repeating as a Second Team All-SCIAC selection, Hughes finished fourth in the conference in assists (50) and fifth in points (102), and ends his Occidental career with 154.
Top photo: Occidental's men's soccer team celebrated on Patterson Field on November 8 after their 1-0 victory over the University of Redlands.
