Stags To Face Bulldogs In SCIAC Tournament Semis

The men's soccer team secured its playoff seed last week with a 2-0 win over Occidental College, but fell to the University of Redlands 3-2 in the last game of the regular season.

Last Wednesday, the Stags visited Occidental College and came away with a 2-0 victory and a playoff spot in the SCIAC Tournament.  CMS grabbed the lead in just the 13th minute when Ryan Weaver (SO, Monument, CO) saw his shot deflected by the Tigers keeper, only to be finished calmly by Ian Anderson (SO, San Francisco).  Weaver doubled the lead for the Stags in the 69th minute with a one-on-one opportunity with the keeper and was able to beat the keeper with a cheeky chip that hit the post and found the back of the net.

CMS played host to Redlands on a very cold and wet Saturday morning. Although the Stags were able to take the lead over the Bulldogs twice in the match, they were not able to hold off the Redlands offense in the 3-2 loss. Tomislav Zbozinek (JR, Paradise Valley, AZ) struck first in the 43rd minute with a fake to the right, shimmy to the left, and then a blistering left-footed shot that was just out of the reach of the Bulldogs goalie. Just 45 seconds after the start of the second half, the Bulldogs equalized after a penalty was called in the box and Bryan Fakkema converted from the spot. The Stags answered quickly off of a set piece as Kevin Festini (SR, Fremont) sent a beautiful cross into the penalty area and found the head of Mike Nguyentat (SO, Carmichael [pictured]) who rose like a salmon and smashed the ball in between the uprights. CMS, however, could not handle the offensive pressure created by the Bulldogs as Nick Gunderson beat keeper Ryan Fahey (JR, Bellevue, WA) two times late in the game to take the lead.

The Stags (7-4-3) will now face-off with top seed University of Redlands (12-0-2) at Farquhar Field in the SCIAC Tournament semifinals on Thursday night at 7:30 PM. The winner of the tournament receives an automatic bid to the NCAA playoffs.