CMS Men's Soccer Knocks Off League-Leading Occidental 3-1

EAGLE ROCK, Calif. - John Laidlaw scored a pair of goals, and Eric Sanchez added a third as the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps men's soccer team knocked off an Occidental team that came in undefeated in the SCIAC 3-1 on the road on Wednesday evening.

With the win, CMS moves to 6-2-3 overall and 4-2-2 in conference play, including 4-0-1 in its last five since a slow start. Occidental slips to 8-3-2 overall and 5-1-2 in the league with the loss. 

Laidlaw opened the scoring at the 29:11 mark of the first half when he pounced on a loose ball after James Gomez was able to draw Occidental goalkeeper Riley Nyhan out of net. 

Sanchez doubled the lead in the second half in the 68th minute when he got to a through ball from Tommy Brown and slipped a shot in from 10 yards out. 

Occidental was able to put some pressure on the Stags with a goal in the 81st minute, but Laidlaw sealed it when he converted in front after Walsh Kern turned the corner along the end line to the left of goal and sent a crossing pass into the goalmouth. 

CMS held Occidental without a shot in the first half and held a 10-7 edge in shots for the game. The Stags also had a 6-3 edge in corner kicks. 

CMS will be back in action on Saturday when it returns home to face Chapman at 2 p.m.