Rubin's Two Goals Lead CMS Men's Soccer to 4-1 Win Over Oglethorpe

CLAREMONT, Calif. - Harper Rubin scored two goals, including a tiebreaking goal in the 31st minute, as the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps men's soccer team saw its offense break loose for a 4-1 win over Oglethorpe on Friday evening at Pritzlaff Field.

With the win, the Stags improve to 1-1-1 on the season after a 0-0 tie with UC Santa Cruz and a 1-0 defeat in overtime to Westmont last week, while Oglethorpe, which defeated CMS in the 2019 season opener (one of four losses the Stags suffered that season) slips to 0-3 with the defeat. 

"I'm really proud of the team today," said Ryan Fahey, who picked up his first career head coaching victory after previously serving as an assistant at CMS, Dartmouth and Notre Dame. "Oglethorpe is a very good team with a lot of talented individuals. I thought we did a great job of being more than 32 individuals, but instead one great team, especially in the second half."

CMS had been solid defensively in its opening week, but was looking to break through on the offensive end. It finally got its first tally of the year off a long throw-in, when Houston Engleman took the throw along the right sideline, and center back Samay Rahim came forward to get a flick header to send the ball through to the far post. Eric Sanchez was waiting there for the deflection and buried a one-time shot into the roof of the net for the first Stag goal of the year at the 15:53 mark. 

The lead lasted just over five minutes, though, before the Stormy Petrels struck for the equalizer. A long through ball from Javier Martinez from just over the midfield stripe put Abraham Lopez in alone on goal, and Lopez finished at the 21:24 mark to make it a 1-1 game. 

Rubin scored his first of the night, though, to break the tie for good with 14:06 left in the half. Lukas Huntington chested the ball out of the air outside the right edge of the penalty area, and volleyed a cross into the center of the box. Rubin then struck a volley before the ball hit the ground, blasting a low shot into the left side of the net to put the Stags up 2-1. 

In the final minute of the half, CMS took all the momentum into the intermission when it added a third goal. Justin Blachman made a run down the right side, and played a low cross into the center of the box. Walsh Kern was in the right place 15 yards from goal, and blasted a one-timer into the right side of the net to put the Stags ahead 3-1 just 35 seconds before the break. 

Blachman then picked up his second assist of the night on Rubin's second goal with 12:20 left. Once again, he broke free along the right side, but this time lofted a high cross to the far post. Rubin got in great position and snapped a header from the top of the six-yard box that found its way home, for the fourth one-touch goal for the Stags on the night, making the final score 4-1. 

CMS finished with a 17-10 edge in shots on the day and a 10-3 edge in corner kicks. Eduardo De Anda had three saves to get the win goal, improving his career record to 10-1-2. 

The Stags will be back in action on Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m. when they take on Cal Lutheran in a non-SCIAC game at Pritzlaff Field.