CMS Men's Soccer Wins Fourth Straight Behind Dominant Second Half at La Verne

LA VERNE, Calif. - The Claremont-Mudd-Scripps men's soccer team earned its fourth win in a row behind three second-half goals as it captured a 3-0 road win over La Verne on Saturday evening.

With the win, CMS now stands at 4-1-1 on the season, with the only loss coming to Westmont of the NAIA, which does not factor into its postseason hopes. The Stags are also now 2-0 in SCIAC play this year, after opening with a 2-1 win over No. 5 Redlands on Wednesday. 

The score was tied 0-0 at the half, although the Stags had the better of the play and held an 8-1 edge in shot attempts. Only one of those eight shots in the first half was on target, though, which CMS fixed at intermission, beginning with the eventual game-winner from Liam O'Reilly, who scored 4:24 into the second half to put the Stags up 1-0. 

CMS added an insurance goal at the 66:30 mark when Tommy Brown scored his first collegiate goal off a feed from ben Pelz. Just over seven minutes later, Eric Sanchez pushed the lead to 3-0 when he scored at the 74:02 mark. 

The Stags held a 15-3 edge in shots in the second half, finishing with a 23-4 advantage in the game in that department, but also put eight of its 15 shots after halftime on target, forcing five La Verne saves, in addition to the three goals.

Eduardo De Anda, meanwhile, did not need to make a save for the Stags in going the distance to get the shutout, improving his career record to 13-1-2, including 4-0-1 this season. The defense, led by senior center back Samay Rahim, played outstanding in front of De Anda in keeping his work to a minimum. 

CMS will be back in action on Wednesday when it travels to Chapman for a 7 p.m. contest, before returning home to face Occidental next Saturday at 7 p.m.