CMS Men's Soccer Hosts Chapman Wednesday Night in SCIAC Semifinals

Live Video
Live Stats
Tickets ($8 in advance, $10 at door - free for children under 12 or students with SCIAC ID)

CLAREMONT, Calif. - The Claremont-Mudd-Scripps men's soccer team, the top seed in the SCIAC Tournament, will begin its postseason on Wednesday night at home when it entertains Chapman for a 7 p.m. semifinal contest at Pritzlaff Field.

The SCIAC will charge admission for its championship events, with tickets available through Ticketleap in advance (Ticketleap link here), which are $8 for adults, or free for children under 12 (students with SCIAC ID also receive free admission). Tickets may also be purchased at the door for $10. The live video stream will be run through the SCIAC's web portal (SCIACtv).

CMS earned the top seed with a 10-0-2 conference record, the first time the program has gone undefeated in league play since 1993. The Stags will host the Wednesday semifinal, and would also be guaranteed to host the championship game on Saturday night at 7 p.m. if they advance, where they would meet the winner of the other semifinal, featuring third-seeded Cal Lutheran at second-seeded Redlands. 

The Stags actually just defeated Chapman 3-0 in the regular season finale on Saturday, although that game was played under entirely different circumstances. CMS had already clinched the top seed and was motivated by trying to finish the regular season undefeated in SCIAC play, while Chapman had already secured a SCIAC bid and was merely hoping to move up to the third seed with a win instead of the fourth.

The rematch will now be the highest possible stakes, as the winner will move on with their postseason, while the loser's season could potentially be over. CMS, which is currently ranked No. 12 in the country, would have a chance at an at-large defeat with a loss, but the current senior class has bitter memories of being left out in 2018 despite a 15-2-1 record and a national ranking, after falling to Chapman on penalty kicks, and will try to avoid the same fate. 

The last time CMS was in this spot, it did exactly that, pulling through with 2-0 wins over Occidental and Redlands to earn the 2019 SCIAC Championship at Pritzlaff. CMS then went on to win the NCAA Regional at Trinity to advance to the Round of 16 for the first time since 1984. 

CMS enters the postseason boasting a league-high seven All-SCIAC award winners, which were released earlier today. Eduardo De Anda, Samay Rahim, Harper Rubin and Justin Blachman earned first-team All-SCIAC honors, while Ben Pelz, Troy Lehenbauer and Rafael Otero were named to the second team. Head Coach Ryan Fahey and assistants Trevor Swartz and Stefan Gonzalez were named the SCIAC Coaching Staff of the Year.