CMS Men's Soccer Opens 2018 season with Two Home Games This Weekend
CLAREMONT, Calif. - The Claremont-Mudd-Scripps men's soccer team begins its 2018 campaign with two home contests this weekend, taking on Providence Christian on Friday at 7 p.m. and regional rival UC Santa Cruz on Sunday at 7 p.m., both at Pritzlaff Field.
The Stags were picked to finish sixth in the SCIAC in a preseason poll of the league's coaches, which was released today, but they are optimistic that they can exceed expectations after battling through a difficult season with injuries a year ago. This year's squad is talented, but young, as only two seniors are represented on the 30-player roster, defender Scott Montague (HMC '19) and midfielder Aidan Johnson (CMC '19).
At the goalkeeper position, the Stags have three strong candidates for playing time. Connor Gaskin (CMC '20) is the lone returner of the bunch, earning six starts a year ago and finishing with a 1.28 goals against average and a .795 save percentage. Incoming freshmen Jacob Mays (CMS '22) of Las Vegas and Eduardo DeAnda (HMC '22) will also be challenging for minutes in their first collegiate seasons.
Defensively, the Stags will get a boost as center back Adam Singer (CMC '20), who started every game as a freshman before missing all but one game last season with an injury, is healthy again to help solidify the back four. Luke Scanlan (CMC '20), William Birchard (CMC '21) and Kevin Proudfoot (HMC '21) were regulars in the starting line up on the CMS defense a year ago, while Tyler Chen (CMC '20) and Brandon Theodorou (HMC '21) earned significant experience last fall and give the Stags plenty of defensive depth.
Johnson will serve as one of the team leaders as a returning starter in the midfield, where he scored three goals last fall. Nate Huntington (CMC '21) started 15 of 16 games last year in the midfield as well and had a goal and two assists, and Isaiah Alba (CMC '20) started nine, tallying a goal and an assist. Alba has the potential to be a strong distributor for CMS this season, after tallying five assists his freshman campaign. Sophomores Harper Rubin (CMC '21) and Nate Joseph (CMC '21) were also called into duty frequently last year and will look to expand their roles in their second collegiate seasons.
Up front, the Stags will lean heavily on Daniel Rohde (HMC '21), who proved to be a dangerous weapon a year ago, tallying five goals and two assists in an injury-shortened nine games. Justin Gadalla (HMC '20) stepped up with four goals last year as a sparkplug off the bench, while Patrick Burke (CMC '20) and Cole Smith (CMC '20) are proven scorers after tallying six goals and three goals, respectively, their freshman seasons.
Redlands was picked to finish first in the SCIAC poll with seven first place votes, followed by Chapman in second with the other two first-place votes. Cal Lutheran, Pomona-Pitzer and Occidental were picked in the 3-5 spots, while Whitter, La Verne and Caltech were chosen 6-9.
The preseason tune-up phase of the schedule will be a short one for the Stags, as they get started with SCIAC play on Wednesday, Sept. 5 at 7 p.m.