Men's Soccer Battles #4 UC Santa Cruz To A Draw

The Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Stags came out against UC Santa Cruz in a Thursday evening showdown featuring two of the top teams on the West Coast at Pritzlaff Field. The Banana Slugs came into the game ranked fourth in the nation, but the Stags were not intimidated. Coming out strong, the Stags quickly began to control the tempo of the game. In the ninth minute, Michael Nguyentat (JR, Sacramento) set up Marshall Fisher (JR, Des Moines, IA) who rocketed a shot from the top of the box into the back of the net, putting the Stags up 1-0. But the Slugs quickly responded, beating the Stags defense and All-West goal keeper Ryan Fahey (SR, Bellevue, WA) in the 11th minute to even the score 1-1. Despite opportunites for both teams, the score would remain knotted up going into the half.

The second half turned into a defensive battle, as the Stags showed why they held the SCIAC lowest “goals against” statististic the previous season. The Stags were supported by their largest (and most passionate) audience of the year.  Regulation finished knotted up 1-1 and the game went into two overtimes stuck in a stalemate. In the 110th and final minute, Harrison Doyle (FR, Hidden Hills) broke through the Santa Cruz defense colliding with the opposing goal keeper. The Stag bench watched the ball roll past the far post for a goal kick and their leading goal scorer would have to leave the game covered in blood as the final seconds ran out with the score still tied 1-1.  It was a relentless effort by the whole team nonetheless, proving the Stags could truly play with any team in the Nation.