CMS Women's Soccer Picks Up Road Win at Caltech, Moves into Top Four in SCIAC

PASADENA, Calif. - First-year defender McKenzie Emmons headed in a corner kick in the 27th minute for her first collegiate goal as the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps women's soccer team picked up three big road points with a 1-0 win over Caltech on Tuesday afternoon at North Field.

With the win, CMS moves to 6-5-4 on the year and 4-2-3 in the SCIAC, moving into fourth in the league standings (the Athenas also hold a 1-0 lead against third-place Cal Lutheran in a game that was suspended at the half and will be completed on Monday). Caltech slips to 3-8-4 on the year and 1-8-1 in league play with the loss.

CMS broke the scoreless deadlock when Nicole Oberlag won a corner kick, and Lizzie Iwicki took it from the left side. Iwicki bent in a cross to the middle of the box about 10 yards out, and Emmons was able to head it into the side netting inside the near post to give the Athenas the 1-0 lead.

Caltech had a bid to tie in the opening minutes of the second half, as Kathryn Thompson put a solid strike on the ball from 25 yards out, but Athena Manthouli was able to make the save to preserve the lead.

CMS finished with a 15-5 advantage in shots and a 6-2 edge in corners. Manthouli finished with three saves to get the shutout, with the third one coming with just over three minutes left to seal it, as the Athenas shut out their fifth opponent in the last six games. 

CMS will be back in action when it hosts UC Santa Cruz on Saturday for a non-league game that will also be the program's Senior Day. The Athenas will then finish the suspended game with Cal Lutheran on Monday, travel to Whittier on Wednesday, and close out the regular season at home against Occidental next Saturday night.