CMS Men's Soccer Holds off No. 5 Redlands to Take SCIAC Opener

CLAREMONT, Calif. - Harper Rubin scored a goal in each half for his second two-goal game in the last five days as the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps men's soccer team earned a 2-1 win over No. 5 Redlands on Wednesday evening at Pritzlaff Field in the SCIAC opener for both teams.

With the win, CMS now stands at 3-1-1 on the season, including 3-0-1 against Division III teams. Redlands, which had moved into the No. 5 spot in the national rankings this week, falls to 3-1 with its first defeat. The SCIAC opener was also a rematch of the last league game that the Stags played, when they hosted Redlands in the 2019 SCIAC Championship and earned a 2-0 win over the Bulldogs. 

"Redlands is a very good team and tonight was a great game," said Head Coach Ryan Fahey. "I think tonight's game showed how how strong our conference is. Our team had a great performance tonight, and we now need to use tonight to continue to get better."

Rubin put the Stags on the board in the final minute of the half, when he converted a penalty kick after Redlands was whistled for a hand ball in the box. Redlands goalkeeper Seth Lawrence guessed right and got his fingertips to it, but Rubin put enough pace on it to send it through to the back of the net to give the Stags the halftime lead with just 54 seconds on the clock. 

Just 7:20 into the second half, Rubin had his second two-goal game of the season, after also scoring twice (once in each half) in a 4-1 win over Oglethorpe on Friday. This time, his brace came on a pretty one-touch volley from inside the top of the six-yard box off a cross from Liam O'Reilly that he was able to roof into the netting underneath the crossbar. 

Redlands put some pressure on the Stags, though, when Peyton Menti scored in the 63rd minute on a diving header off a free kick to cut the lead to 2-1. However, Eduardo De Anda was able to make his fifth save on a header in the closing minutes to preserve the win, improving his lifetime record to 12-1-2. 

CMS might have been able to breathe easier down the stretch, but the Stags hit the woodwork three times in the game, including a flick off the post from Eric Sanchez in the first half, a 40-yard free kick that hit off the crossbar from O'Reilly in the second half, and a line drive off the near post from Ben Pelz in the final 10 minutes. 

CMS will be back in action on Saturday when it travels to La Verne for its second SCIAC game of the young season.