CMC75 Moments: 1983 Men's Soccer Reaches National Championship Game
As part of the buildup to the 75th Anniversary celebration for Claremont McKenna College (visit CMC's 75th Anniversary Countdown Page to learn more), we are reliving many of the great moments from CMS athletic department history over the 75-day countdown from April 17 to July 1. If you were a part of this great moment and would like to add to the memories, or if you would like to submit your memories of your own favorite CMS Athletics moments, fill out the form on our main 75th Anniversary page.
Great Moments from 75 Years of Athletics
1983 Men's Soccer Reaches National Championship Game
The Claremont-Mudd-Scripps men's soccer team had an overtime defeat to La Verne early in the season, falling to 1-1 in the SCIAC and 3-3-2 overall. However, the Stags then hit another gear that most teams can only dream of, rattling off 14 wins in a row to roll to the SCIAC title and reach the NCAA Division III National Championship game. The streak began with seven straight shutouts, which was snapped in a 4-1 win over La Verne in the rematch.
The Stags added a 1-0 win over Redlands to close out the regular season, and then defeated UC San Diego 2-0 and Colorado College 3-2 in the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament to reach the semifinals. The Stags hosted Scranton for the semifinals, and a second-half goal from Eric Themm off an assist from Steve Torti proved to be the difference, along with a shutout from goalie BJ Fair in net to send CMS all the way to the national championship match.
Torti and Hyun Lee had goals in the finals, but the Stags came up just short to UNC Greensboro 3-2 to end their long postseason run as national runners-up. Fair, Themm and Mike Thomas were All-Region selections and were joined on the All-SCIAC first team by Torti and Jay Foster, while Lee, Tim Clyde, Don Person, and Todd Schrader were on the second team. CMS made another impressive NCAA run the following year as well, defeating UC San Diego and Colorado College in the NCAA Tournament for the second year in a row, but fell to Kean College 2-1.
Collective comments from Mike Thomas, Doug Boccignone, Tim Clyde, Michael Hyun Lee, Todd Shrader and William (BJ) Fair:
Our times at Claremont were full of many great memories but none more so than that season. It was a very special time that had lasting impacts on our individual lives and our collective friendship.
The team believed we were massive underdogs in a number of the playoff games. Claremont and Harvey Mudd had a combined enrollment of about 1,200 students and yet we were being matched up against significantly larger institutions like UC San Diego (enrollment of about 35,000 students) and UNC Greensboro (enrollment of about 20,000 students). Three of the games were played away from home in difficult weather conditions with large, inhospitable crowds. The sense of being significant underdogs during that playoff run enabled us play with more abandonment and positive energy because we had nothing to lose.
During the playoff run our team was not always the most skilled on the pitch but we had an incredible desire to win. Winning required contributions from the entire team which manifested itself in an intense bond of not letting our teammates down. Our team played with that intensity during the championship run and the bond among teammates continues to exist today. Being on that team together provided a foundation for friendships that have gone well beyond the playing field and continues today with ongoing participation in the lives of each of our families.
The thing we all remember fondly was the support of the CMC community during the championship run. With each successive win, the number of Claremont-Mudd-Scripps student and faculty fans at our home games continued to grow. Our home games were the "must attend" events on campus and each game was filled with hundreds of fanatical students who appeared to be sharing the same joy and thrill of our playoff run as we were. Equally important, we had tremendously unselfish support from parents and past teammates.
By the championship game, Dr. Shrader was taking care of over half the team. After our championship loss in North Carolina, alumni players in the locker room encouraged us to use the setback to persevere and overcome the loss to win the next time – excellent life lessons. We remember flying home after the loss and being taken aback by the number of our Claremont friends and fans at the airport who greeted us upon our arrival in the middle of the night.
Eric Themm:
I will just echo that that was a magical season and the best team that I ever played on. There were many great players, all of whom were even better people.
1983 Men's Soccer Roster 
Head Coach: Steve Davis
Assistant Coaches: Andy Turek, Albert Jordan
Doug Boccignone (Jr., Halfback, CMC)
Tim Clyde (Jr., Halfback, CMC)
Vince Comerchero (Fr., Forward, CMC)
Simon Dimmock (Fr., Goalkeeper, CMC)
William Fair (Sr., Goalkeeper, CMC)
Jay Foster (Sr., Fullback, HMC)
Tom George (So., Halfback, CMC)
Jack Getzelman (Fr., Fullback, CMC)
Jon Greenberg (Fr., Fullback, CMC)
Dave Greenfield (Sr., Fullback, HMC)
Karl Heim (So., Fullback, CMC)
Wyatt Hester (Fr., Halfback, CMC)
Brent Hill (So., Goalkeeper, CMC)
Jeff Hohl (Fr., Fullback, CMC)
Craig Hooley (Fr., Forward, CMC)
Rick Krick (Fr., Fullback, CMC)
Hyun Lee (Jr., Forward, CMC)
Greg McDonald (Fr., Halfback, HMC)
Karl Meyer (Fr., Goalkeeper, HMC)
Roger Orozco (So., Halfback, CMC)
Don Person (Sr., Fullback, HMC)
Lou Rudich (So., Fullback, CMC)
Robert Schoene (Jr., Halfback, CMC)
Mike Shimizu (Sr., Fullback, HMC)
Todd Shrader (Jr., Fullback, CMC)
J.J. Soma (Fr., Fullback, CMC)
Armen Tashjian (Fr., Forward, CMC)
Eric Themm (So., Forward, CMC)
Mike Thomas (So., Halfback, CMC)
Steve Torti (Fr., Forward, CMC)