Helfrich's Late Goal Plays CMS Women's Soccer into SCIAC Tournament

WHITTIER, Calif. - The Claremont-Mudd-Scripps women's soccer team saw a 2-0 halftime lead slip away as it trailed 3-2 late in the game, but Kaitlyn Helfrich was able to finish a long pass from Emma Fogg with just 4:27 remaining for her second goal of the game to salvage a huge tie and clinch a SCIAC Tournament bid for the Athenas.

The tie moves CMS to 7-5-6 overall and 4-2-5 in the SCIAC, good for fourth place, while Whittier remains one game behind CMS at 3-3-5 in conference with one game left to play. The teams could still finish tied for fourth, and the final SCIAC bid, if Whittier defeats Redlands on Friday and CMS falls to Occidental on Saturday. However, CMS would have the tiebreaker, since it went 1-0-1 against the Poets in their two meetings this season. 

The odds of the Athenas not clinching seemed remote when they took a 2-0 halftime lead behind goals from Helfrich and Jihae Oh. CMS scored the first goal just 2:22 into the game when they earned a corner kick and Helfrich was in the right place to tap in a loose ball from in front of the goalmouth, after Fogg was able to battle for it following a goalie punch. 

The Athenas pushed the lead to 2-0 with just under 10 minutes in the half, when Lizzie Iwicki sent a cross from the left sideline that found its way into traffic just outside the top of the 18-yard box. The first one to get to it was Oh, who hit a one-timer into the net to give CMS a 2-0 lead heading into the break. 

A SCIAC bid seemed all but certain, as the Athenas had allowed just three goals in their last eight games combined (all three scored by Cal Lutheran in two different games). But the Poets responded with their backs against the wall for three goals in a span of less than 20 minutes, the last one coming from Mackenize Reed with 12:56 to go to put the Poets in front and give them a chance to pull even with the Athenas in the standings. 

However, the Athenas came through late, when Fogg gathered in a Whittier clearance around midfield and played a long ball in with her left foot that found its way into the box. Helfrich was able to get on the back end and knock the ball in from 10 yards out to reverse the CMS fortunes. 

Sadie Brown had eight saves for CMS to help the Athenas come away with the draw, which was all they needed to move on to the SCIAC Tournament for the first time since 2016. 

CMS will close out the regular season on Saturday at home against Occidental at 7 p.m., potentially with a chance to move up to third seed with a win if Redlands falls to Whittier on Friday.