Malik, Otero Capture First-Team All-SCIAC Honors; Gomez on Second Team

CLAREMONT, Calif. - Shaan Malik and Rafael Otero earned first-team All-SCIAC honors for the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps men's soccer team, and James Gomez captured second-team honors in a vote of the league's coaches, the conference office announced today.

The trio of honorees helped CMS to a third-place finish in the SCIAC, and a bid in the conference tournament which gets underway tonight, as the Stags travel to face second-seeded Redlands. 

Malik has stepped into a starting role as an outside back role for the Stags as a sophomore, and has been a dangerous weapon up the right flank while solidifying the team's back four. He scored a goal in a 1-1 tie with Cal Lutheran in the Stags' SCIAC opener, which would have help up as the game-winner before Cal Lutheran's goal at the buzzer of regulation stood, and set up another one in a league win over Whittier. 

Otero has been the Stags' most creative offensive weapon throughout his career, and has had a strong junior campaign with eight goals and three assists for 19 points, giving him 14 goals in three seasons. He scored both CMS goals to erase second-half deficits in a 2-2 tie with Pacific Lutheran, earning SCIAC Offensive Player of the Week honors, and added two goals and an assist in a 4-1 win over Caltech and the game winner with 10 minutes left at Pomona-Pitzer. 

Gomez has been an impact player as a first-year forward for the Stags, tallying six goals and three assists on the year. He scored in four straight games for the Stags at one point, including two against Whittier, and go-ahead goals against Pomona-Pitzer and La Verne. He also had a goal and an assist in a 3-0 win at Whittier in the rematch with the Poets. 

CMS finished the regular season with an 8-3-5 record, including 5-3-4 in SCIAC and will take on Redlands hoping to avenge an early-season 2-1 road loss in the only meeting between the teams this year. The winner will move on to Saturday's finals, against the winner between top-seeded Occidental and No. 4 seed Cal Lutheran.