CMS Men's Soccer Comes Back to Salvage 2-2 Tie with Pacific Lutheran

SALEM, Ore. - Rafael Otero scored a pair of second-half goals, erasing 1-0 and 2-1 deficits, with the second coming with just 4:06 remaining, as the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps men's soccer team stayed undefeated on the young season with a 2-2 tie against Pacific Lutheran in a neutral site game played at Willamette on Sunday.

With the tie, CMS sees its record move to 2-0-1 as it heads into SCIAC play this week, while Pacific Lutheran moves to 1-1-2. 

Pacific Lutheran opened the scoring just 1:58 in the second half when Sammy Tafolla found the back of the net. However, Otero was able to find the equalizer at the 66:31 mark, when he got on the back end of a cross from Walsh Kern and converted from the top of the six-yard box. 

The tie was short-lived, though, as the Lutes went back in front just 2:18 later as Trevor Thompson scored to make it a 2-1 lead. 

Eric Sanchez nearly found the equalizer in the 86th minute but had his shot cleared away by a Pacific Lutheran defender. The loose ball found its way to Otero just outside the box, and he blasted a shot into the upper-right corner to level the score again. 

CMS had one final chance to win, but Jake Allmon's shot with 11 seconds left was saved by Lute goalie Nicholas Gaston. The Stags finished with a narrow 15-12 edge in shots, and a 7-5 edge in corners, while Kevin Box finished with five saves. 

CMS will open SCIAC play on Wednesday night at 7 p.m. when they host Cal Lutheran at Pritzlaff Field.