CLAREMONT, Calif. – The University of Redlands Men's Soccer team is NCAA bound after they upset the top seeded Stags of Claremont-Mudd-Scripps 2-1 Saturday night in the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) Tournament Championship Game.
The Maroon and Grey currently ride a six-game winning streak dating back to October 16. They sit at 15-2-1, 9-2-1 SCIAC and with the win hand CMS their first loss to a Division III opponent all season. The Stags drop to 14-2-3 and will now have to wait to see if they get an at-large bid into the National Championships.
Redlands has now won five SCIAC Tournament Titles and earns a berth into the NCAA Division III National Championships for the 10th time. The most recent trip occurring in 2016 when the Bulldogs fell in the Elite 8 to St. Thomas (3-2), after beating Wash U. (PK's), DePauw (2-1), and Chicago (3-2).
Avery Jacobson (Seattle, WA) gave the Bulldogs a 1-0 lead at the 13:13 mark when he headed in his own rebound off the crossbar. This advantage held until Collin ChubbFertal (Eugene, OR) extended the lead to 2-0 fifteen minutes into the second half, adding the eventual game-winner with a PK in the 31st minute. Ethan Kovach (Las Vegas, NV) made a nice run deep into the box, but was taken down by a CMS defender from behind earning the penalty kick. ChubbFertal then stepped up and buried it for the insurance.
The Stags though provided some pushback cutting the deficit in half with 23:23 to play as Samay Rahim went near post off a short corner kick. This gave CMS life and they would use it getting a look for the equalizer in the 81st minute from Will Barton who got a head off a cross from Tommy Brown. But the ensuing shot would skim off the crossbar ending the CMS hopes for a comeback.
Seth Lawrence (Redlands, CA) played huge between the posts collecting five saves, while playing all 90:00 minutes. Claremont-M-S held the shot advantage 11-10 and won the corner kick battle 8-4.
Redlands will see who they face and where they will travel to in the opening round of the NCAA Division III National Championships following the selection show set for Monday, November 8.