Box Score The University of Redlands men's soccer team battled it out against the visiting Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges Stags in a high-intensity semifinal of the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) Postseason Tournament on Farquhar Field. With a total-team effort that included big-time saves, quality shots, and solid possession of the ball, the Bulldogs earned a 2-0 decision on Thursday to advance to Saturday's final.
Right out of the gate, both teams were pressing offensively and creating quality chances with two corner kicks apiece.
With the ball back on Redlands' offensive third, junior forward Chase Boone (Beaverton, OR) lofted a perfect cross that found the head of sophomore midfielder Jesus Avalos (Indio, CA), who headed it back across goal to junior midfielder Casey ChubbFertal (Eugene, OR). With poise and precision, ChubbFertal found space to head the ball past the off-balanced Stag goalkeeper for the Bulldogs' first score in the 20th minute.
While utilizing a variety of players, the Maroon and Gray kept up the offensive attack late into the first half, which eventually forced the CMS defense to make a costly mistake that resulted in an own goal for Redlands' 2-0 lead.
Although the Stags upped their intensity in the second stanza, Redlands remained committed to its game plan of simply possessing the ball throughout the field.
In the 63rd minute, junior forward Alexander Knox (Seattle, WA) and junior midfielder Cameron Doody (Arvada, CO) each fired off quality shots, with Knox's bouncing off the post to allow Doody to reset for a solid attempt. Two minutes later, Knox uncorked a ridiculous, on-the-run blast that just missed the goal wide-left.
With a 2-0 cushion, the Bulldogs held off the Stags' final efforts to score, with junior goalkeeper John Melito (Keller, TX) coming up with six quality saves, including an extended reach toward the crossbar that resulted from Mehron Abdi. This capped off three-consecutive attempts by CMS with less than 12 minutes to play.
In addition, a barrage of Stag corner kicks late in the game were no match for the defensive unit of junior Keoni Yates (Kailua-Kona, HI), junior Ben Thompson (Spokane, WA), sophomore Spencer Scott (Beaverton, OR), and senior Austin Moore (Las Vegas, NV).
Redlands (15-5-0) looks forward to hosting Chapman University on Saturday, November 5, at 7 p.m. on Farquhar Field for the SCIAC Postseason Tournament final.
