CMS Women's Soccer Plays to 1-1 Tie with Cal Lutheran in Completion of Suspended Game

CLAREMONT, Calif. - The Claremont-Mudd-Scripps women's soccer team nearly won the game twice in the closing minutes, but settled for a 1-1 tie with Cal Lutheran on Monday evening in the completion of a game that was suspended at halftime on Oct. 15 due to lightning.

With the tie, CMS moves to 7-5-5 on the year and 4-2-4 in conference, and can clinch a SCIAC bid with a road win at Whittier on Wednesday. Cal Lutheran improves to 9-4-3 overall and 6-1-3 in conference and remains in the hunt for the regular season title with the tie. 

CMS came into the day with a 1-0 lead after Nithya Yeluri scored a goal in the 15th minute last Saturday, before lightning forced the game to be suspended at halftime. Cal Lutheran found the equalizer in the 67th minute this evening, when Isabella Veljacic made a 30-yard run up the middle of the field on a counter, and blasted a shot from just outside the box into the side netting. 

Neither team was content to play for the tie, as the final five minutes resulted in some drama at both ends. Taylor Arakaki played a perfect cross near the top of the six-yard box with just over four minutes left that forced Logan Duford to make a diving save for a corner kick. Just two minutes later, Laurel Ovenell played a perfect ball into Caelyn Smith just inside the top of the 18, and Smith put a blast into a shot that was destined for the upper left corner, before Duford came up with another clutch save. 

On the ensuing corner, Duford came off her line to punch the ball away, and the clearance fell to Riley Zitar, who volleyed it out of the air just over the bar to barely miss another dramatic game-winner with 1:15 to go.

Cal Lutheran then tried to flip the script and get something on the other end in the final minute, with Sadie Brown coming up big when she kicked away a shot from Danielle Vis after Vis got in behind the CMS defense. Then with 15 seconds left, the Regals were able to break into the box and it looked like Darya Rasoli was going to have a chance to score 1v1 with Brown, but Emma Fogg came across with a slide tackle to sweep the ball away to safety as the final 10 seconds ticked off the clock. 

CMS finished with a 13-5 edge in shots and an 8-1 edge in corner kicks over the two halves of play, with the Athenas holding a more modest 6-4 edge in shots in Monday's half. Duford finished with eight saves, four on Oct. 15 and four on Monday, while Brown had both of her saves today. 

CMS will face Whittier on Wednesday and then finish the regular season at home against Occidental on Saturday at 7 p.m.