CMS Men's Soccer Remains Unbeaten, Untied, Unscored Upon; Defeats Cal Lutheran 3-0

CLAREMONT, Calif. - The Claremont-Mudd-Scripps soccer team picked up its sixth straight shutout win to start the season as it dominated Cal Lutheran from nearly start to finish, picking up a 3-0 home win over the Kingsmen on Saturday evening at Pritzlaff Field.

With the win, the Stags move to 6-0 overall and 3-0 in SCIAC play, maintaining their hold of their share of first place in the league in the early going. Cal Lutheran, meanwhile, slips to 1-5 overall and 1-3 in the conference with the loss. 

All three goals from the CMS bench as the Stags utilized their depth to great results. Freshmen William Barton and Ethan Tyng scored goals for the Stags, with Barton picking up his team-high fourth of the year in the first half for the game-winner off a Tyng pass, and Tyng adding his first to make it 2-0 in the second half off a cross from sophomore Daniel Rohde. Sophomore Leonardo Lindo added his first goal of the year as well to seal it in the 75th minute. 



The CMS defense, which has been nearly impenetrable all season, had an early hiccup as freshman goalie Jacob Mays was called on to make a difficult save just two minutes in, sprawling low to save a shot from inside the box off the foot of Jared Pischke. That was just about it for Cal Lutheran scoring threats, though, as the Kingsmen managed just two more shot attempts, neither of which were on target, as the Stags finished with an 18-3 edge in shots. CMS also had an 11-2 edge in shots earlier this week against Pomona-Pitzer in a 2-0 win, with neither of those shots on target as well. 

"We're rock solid on defense," said Tyng. "That's one of the best parts of our team, and from what I've seen, I think we have the most solid defense in the league."

The game-winning goal came from the two freshmen just minutes after they had checked into the game. A quick turnover in Cal Lutheran's defensive half of the field put the ball on Tyng's feet, and he was able to connect with Barton making a run up the middle, who buried the shot from inside the box for his fourth goal of the season to give the Stags the 1-0 lead at the 21:43 mark. 

Barton and Tyng have often come into games this year and had immediate impacts off the bench, but Barton thinks it isn't so much that they come in and look to change the game, so much as keep things the way they are going. 

"The team is always doing well at the start," said Barton. "We just try to come in and give us good energy, and see if we can get ourselves in good spots where our teammates can find us and put one in the back of the net."

The lead stayed at 1-0 until midway through the second half, when the Stags struck for their second. Sophomore midfielder Nate Huntington played a pretty diagonal ball over the top of the Cal Lutheran defense that played Rohde in along the right side. Rohde drove a hard, low cross through the box that eluded the dive of Cal Lutheran goalie Cade Leatherman, and Tyng crashed in down the middle to get his foot on it and tuck it into the net for his first collegiate goal 11:42 into the second half. 

Lindo then sealed the deal with 15:41 remaining in the game when he got to a rebound in front of the net after a header from freshman midfielder Houston Engleman was saved, and poked the ball over the line to make it a 3-0 game. 

Mays had his sixth straight solo shutout to start his career, and increased his career save total to just eight over those six contests with his save two minutes into the game. Over the last 88 minutes, though, it was all CMS, as he wasn't needed to make a stop again, with the defense of junior Adam Singer and sophomores Kevin Proudfoot, Nate Joseph and William Birchard again locking things down in front of him. 

The Stags will be back in action on Wednesday when they host Whittier for a 7 p.m. contest at Pritzlaff Field.