CMC75 Moments: 2000 Men's Soccer Comes Back for NCAA Win Over UC Santa Cruz

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
2000 Men's Soccer: Two Late Goals Give CMS 2-1 NCAA Win

The CMS Men's Soccer Program ended the old millennium with a SCIAC title and a 2-1 NCAA win at home (over Chapman) in 1999, and it started the new millennium the exact same way (with the 2-1 NCAA win coming over UC Santa Cruz), while the 2000 team showed a particular flair for the dramatic to earn their big moments.

The 2000 Stags finished the regular season with a 17-2-1 record and a SCIAC Championship, but it took some tight wins late in the year to get there. The Stags edged Redlands 1-0 and Cal Lutheran 2-1 to set up a winner-take-all battle with first-place Pomona-Pitzer for the SCIAC title, and prevailed 3-2 behind goals from Matt Snell, Luke Benedum and the eventual winner from Trevor Mutch in the second half. The three straight one-goal wins gave CMS an 11-2-1 league record, good for its 17th SCIAC title in a 20-year span since 1981. The Stags also captured the SCIAC's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, earning a home game with UC Santa Cruz in the opening round.

Once again, CMS worked its one-goal magic. After falling behind 1-0 to the Banana Slugs, Mutch tied the score with just over 15 minutes remaining and then drew a penalty kick in the 89th minute. Sweeper Eric Henderson converted from the spot with just 1:42 left to enable the Stags to win 2-1 and advance to the second round, where they fell in a game played in frigid conditions to Linfield to end the year with an impressive 18-3-1 record. 

In the postseason awards department, Mutch (15 goals, 6 assists), Henderson (2 goals as team sweeper), Garrett Jansma (2 goals, 7 assists as a defender), Shaun Mutch (6 goals, 15 assists), and goalkeeper Jamey Harding (0.94 GAA) were first-team All-SCIAC selections, while Benedum (9 goals, 2 assists) was second-team All-SCIAC. Jansma, Trevor Mutch and Matt Post (5 goals) served as the team tri-captains, while Shaun Mutch tied the CMS program assist record with 15 on the year.

Matt Post:

Going into the year, we knew we had a pretty good returning team (we'd won the league the year before) and could compete with anybody.  The challenge was staying focused against the weaker SCIAC teams and then finding an extra gear against the stronger teams.  We slipped up during league play a couple times and the pressure mounted with a few games left.  Of course, those few games were against all the best teams – Redlands, Cal Lutheran and Pomona-Pitzer.  But we took them down one at a time. 

Redlands was an up-and-coming team that made it to the NCAA III National Championship game that next year.  They had a bunch of guys who were all fairly good and they moved the ball well.  We got our one goal and thankfully shut them out.  Next up was Cal Lutheran, which had been consistently good over the last few years and always gave us fits with their star forward, Oscar … I don't remember his last name, but I sure remember him.  As the right fullback, my job was usually to mark the opposing team's best forward.  Oscar was bigger, faster and stronger than I was.  He gave me all I could handle in this game, but fortunate for me I had a cast of All-Stars around me and we had some firepower of our own.  After downing Cal Lu 2-1, we headed to Pomona-Pitzer to determine who would win SCIAC.  It was another close game, but Trevor bailed us out with a great goal and we were on to the NCAA tourney.

Getting a chance to play a home game in the first round of the NCAA tournament was amazing.  UC Santa Cruz scored on us early on and it was a real gut check.  They were a larger school and I remember momentarily wondering whether we might be outmatched.  But true to our form that season, we responded by sticking with our game plan and playing each possession as hard as we could.  When Trevor broke through their defense late in the game and notched a goal, our confidence surged. Then we win a penalty kick and Coach Bilowitz sends Eric Henderson to take it.  Eric was (and probably still is) Mr. Cool, Calm and Collected. He was our sweeper and was unflappable under pressure.  He buried the penalty and a couple minutes later the final whistle signaled our victory. 

The next game at Regionals was tough. We lost to Linfield, who ended up making it to the Quarterfinals of the NCAA tournament. And while I was devastated after that loss, knowing that my soccer days were over, I also felt lucky to have shared the experience with such a great group of guys.

When I think about that year's soccer team, the word grit comes to mind.  Every player on the team worked hard, had respect for everyone else on the team, and wanted to win above all else.  That desire to win games made pre-season tryouts intense, practices occasionally chippy, and games an exercise in maximum, focused effort.  This is not to say we didn't have fun, enjoy good camaraderie and celebrate our victories.  But I think our team's collective personality was very indicative of the school we all chose to attend.  CMC has an earned reputation for being a great school for student-athletes – a school where you work hard and play hard.  And we fit that mold.  We played hard when we weren't in the classroom or on the field, but we knew when to work hard.  We certainly had a lot of talented players, but I think what defined our success was our incredible work rate – a will to make the extra sprint, throw our body into every tackle, and expect a little more from ourselves.  That grit helped us when we were in close games, facing tough competition.

I barely got any playing time my first two years on the team.  I would routinely go out to the soccer field late at night and kick penalty kicks and practice my moves in the dark and wonder how I was ever going to be good enough to crack the lineup.  To be able to end my career by having a senior season like 2000, and to share it with such a talented crew of teammates, was an absolute dream come true.

Jamey Harding:

Looking back at my time playing at CMC, it's interesting that I can remember in excruciating detail all of our losses but I remember very little about our victories. I think that says a lot about the culture that was created around the soccer program.

I was a sophomore on this team. From the time I arrived on campus, there was an expectation of excellence surrounding this team and all the teams during my time—that we should win each game and win each game with class. Team captains-Garrett, Matt and Trevor made sure that the program maintained a high standard and that we were a strong representative of the school.

For this particular game, all I can remember is Trevor got injured during the game but continued to play and fight for the entire 90 minutes-scoring and then earning the winning penalty kick.

I do remember us then flying to Minnesota (Gustavis Adolphus) for the next round of the playoffs to play Linfield. It was snowing and below zero outside. It was a bit of a shock coming from warm and sunny CA!  I'm pretty sure not many of us had played in that type of weather before. Minnesota in the winter is no fun! Definitely made me appreciate Claremont more. 

For my class ('03), this was the last time we made the NCAA tournament. I guess that is other side of high expectations, after we lost to Linfield, we all thought we would be back the following years for another shot. The following year (2001) we all felt we had a legitimate chance to win the D3 title but it wasn't meant to be. 

I will always cherish my time playing at CMC. The friendships and bonds on and off the field and being a true student-athlete are what makes the CMC experience so special

2000 Men's Soccer Roster
Head Coach: Louis Bilowitz
Assistant Coaches: David Quesada, Rafael Moran
Arend Accola (Fr., F, CMC)
Harry Arthur (So., M, CMC)
Luke Benedum (Fr., F, CMC)
Alex Castillo (Jr., M, CMC)
Gustavo Galindo (Fr., M, CMC)
Josh Gould (So., GK, CMC)
Benny Hammond (Fr., M, CMC)
Jamey Harding (So., GK, CMC)
Eric Hass (Jr., F, CMC)
Eric Henderson (So., D, CMC)
Matt Hoberg (So., D, CMC)
Garrett Jansma (Jr., M, CMC)
Steve Kolthammer (Fr., D, HMC)
Steve Kosoris (Fr., F, CMC)
Dinh Lai (Sr., F, CMC)
Jordan Lopez (So., M, CMC)
Chris Moore (Fr., D, CMC)
Shaun Mutch (Jr., D, CMC)
Trevor Mutch (Jr., F, CMC)
Matt Post (Sr., D, CMC)
Jason Rowley (Jr., M, CMC)
Micah Sadoyama (Jr., M, CMC)
Matt Snell (Sr., M, CMC)
Ali Taysi (Jr., D, CMC)

1999 Men's Soccer Roster
Head Coach: Louis Bilowitz
Assistant Coaches: David Quesada, Rafael Moran
Nick Andrus (So., M, CMC) 
Harry Arthur (Fr., M, CMC)
Alex Castillo (So., M, CMC)
Josh Gould (Fr., GK, CMC)
Jamey Harding (Fr., GK, CMC)
Eric Hass (So., F, CMC)
Eric Henderson (Fr., D, CMC)
Matt Hoberg (Fr., D, CMC)
Garrett Jansma (Jr., M, CMC)
Jordan Lopez (Fr., M, CMC)
Ryan McGlinn (Sr., M, CMC)
Peter McGovern (Jr., D, CMC)
Eric McLimore (Fr., F, CMC)
Mike Mesisca (So., F, CMC)
Shaun Mutch (So., D, CMC)
Trevor Mutch (So., F, CMC)
Matt Post (Jr., D, CMC)
Sean Reeves (Sr., F, CMC)
Jason Rowley (So., M, CMC)
Micah Sadoyama (So., M, CMC)
Samir Singh (Sr., D, CMC)
Matt Snell (So., M, CMC)
Randy Snow (Jr., F, CMC)
Ali Taysi (So., D, CMC)
Chris Thoms (Fr., GK, HMC)
Andy VanOrden (Sr., D, CMC)