Box Score Mary Taussig was a force at both ends of the field as the Colorado College women's lacrosse began a pivotal two-game West Region road trip with an 8-7 victory over Occidental College on Saturday afternoon.

Taussig scored a pair of goals in the second half to help CC take the lead, then forced a turnover and grabbed the loose ball with 1:26 remaining which allowed her team to run off all but the final six seconds.

The junior midfielder set a career mark with seven caused turnovers and tied her personal best with nine ground balls as Colorado College improved to 7-2.

After falling behind on a tally by Occidental's Mackenzie Wright 1:44 into the second half, CC scored the next three goals to build an 8-6 lead with 7:53 to play.

Taussig tied the score 2:26 after Mackenzie's marker, and then put Colorado College ahead exactly eight minutes later on a free-position shot.

Neither team could muster a goal until Chelo Barton found the net off a feed from Steph Kelly to give CC an 8-6 lead.

Sierra Slack cut Oxy's deficit in half with 3:48 to play on her fifth marker of the game, but the Colorado College stiffened and did not allow another goal the rest of the way.

The home-field disadvantage continued in the brief but exciting series between the two Tiger squads, with the visiting side prevailing for the fourth year in a row. CC won for the third time in four meetings, each by a goal on the road.

Occidental took a 4-3 lead when Slack scored midway through the first half, but Colorado College answered with tallies by Kelly and Sadie Cole to go ahead for the first time with 7:30 to play.

It appeared that CC would take that one-point cushion into the break, but Slack struck for a man-down marker with just seven seconds on the clock to knot the score after 30 minutes.

Cole led the Colorado College attack with two goals and a pair of assists. Kelly, who scored twice and set up another, added five ground balls and recorded a game-high five draw controls.

CC compiled a 23-17 advantage in total shots and a 33-31 edge in ground balls.

Martha Smith finished with four saves for Colorado College.

Neah Bois stopped eight shots for Oxy, which slipped to 6-5.

CC plays its second game in less than 24 hours when the Tigers visit Pomona-Pitzer Colleges on Sunday at 11 a.m.