The University of Redlands men’s soccer team fell, 1-2, to Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges in the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) Postseason Tournament final on Saturday evening in Redlands.

In front of an energized crowd of more than 600 at Farquhar Field, the two teams met up for the third time this season. With each squad owning a 1-0 victory to its credit in the regular-season series, the match promised to be tightly contested.

The tilt lived up to its billing as it took a Claremont-Mudd-Scripps goal with a man advantage in the 86th minute to seal the final result.

After a scoreless first half, Harrison Doyle put the Stags on the board, tapping in a Jared Bernstein cross from the right side in the 47th minute.

Redlands, however, answered back five minutes later as sophomore midfielder Cody Carlson (Burbank, CA) netted his 10th goal of the year. Junior defender Danny Connors (Lake Oswego, OR) took a corner in the 53rd minute, and sophomore defender Sean Cruz (The Woodlands, TX) headed a shot toward Stag keeper Ryan Fahey. Fahey batted the attempt away, leaving the ball open on the left-hand side of the six-yard box. Carlson knocked a shot past the goal line and brought the raucous crowd back into the game.

In the 82nd minute, senior defender Jeff Willey (Medina, WA) sustained a red card, which caused the Maroon and Gray to play a man down for the remainder of the match.

After a set piece taken by Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, a Bulldog defender put a foot on the ball that bounced out of bounds to the left of the goal, setting up a corner kick opportunity for the Stags. Ian Anderson played the ball in, and David Taylor scored on the attempt, giving Claremont-Mudd-Scripps a 2-1 lead heading into the final three minutes of play.

The Stags successfully held Redlands scoreless for the remainder of the match and earned the improbable win as the No. 4 seed.

Ryan Fahey defended his distinguished reputation, making six saves on seven shots on goal playing in between the pipes for Claremont-Mudd-Scripps. Senior goalkeeper Evan Hobson (San Diego, CA) turned away four shots while protecting the Bulldog net.

The Stags outshot the Maroon and Gray, 15-12, which included an 8-5 margin in the first half.

With the victory, the Stags (11-7-2, 8-5-1 SCIAC) earn the SCIAC’s automatic bid into the 2009 NCAA Division III Men’s Soccer Championships.

Redlands (10-7-4, 8-3-3 SCIAC) concludes its season after finishing third in the conference standings and taking the SCIAC Postseason Tournament’s No. 3 seed. The Bulldogs defeated No. 2 Whittier College on Wednesday in the semifinals, ensuring their appearance in the postseason-tournament final. The loss also snaps an eight-year run of NCAA postseason appearances, which started in 2001 when Redlands advanced to the national-championship game.