Soccer Teams Sweep Slugs, Fall in Round of 32

Stags soccer, after an exciting run through the SCIAC tournament, traveled to Santa Cruz to take on the Slugs last Saturday. Downn 1-0 in the 8th minute, prospects did not look good for the Stags, especially playing against Cruz at home. However off a corner in the 23rd minute, Eric Bean (CMC SO) put home a Rodrigo Bravo Beneitez (CMC FR) corner for the equalizer. The game went into halftime knotted at 1. In the 53rd minute, Tony Garcia (CMC SO) scored the eventual game-winning goal, and the Stags held on to advance to the round of 32. The Stags then took on Whitworth on Sunday, and in the second minute, were once again staring at a 1-0 deficit. The game stayed 1-0 until the 51st minute, when Jered Bernstein (CMC FR) scored off a David Taylor (CMC FR) pass, knotting the game at 1-1. The men held strong until the 83rd minute when a Whitworth Pirate snuck through the middle of the defense and slotted a pass to the left, where his teammate tallied the game-winner.

After an undefeated SCIAC campaign, the women's soccer team had high hopes for the NCAA tournament, where they had advanced to the round of 16 last year. The Athenas also faced the Banana Slugs but, as a higher seed than the men, had home-field advantage. Despite an early goal by the Slugs in the 6th minute, the Athenas showed composure as Julia Nishioka (CMC SO) tallied the equalizer off a Laura Hagen (CMC JR) pass just 8 minutes later. Camila Friedman-Gerlicz (CMC SR) was outstanding, stopping 11 shots on goal, and the defense held strong, continuing to give the Athenas chances on offense. Finally in the 63rd minute, SCIAC player of the year Laura Hagen (CMC JR) found the back of the net for the game-winner, as the defense clamped down to put the women into the round of 32 against Hardin-Simmons. Against the Hardin-Simmons Cowgirls, the Athenas again found themselves in a battle. The Athenas warded off the Cowgirl attack, including an 8-0 advantage in corner kicks in the first half, until the 44th minute, when Hardin-Simmons finally snuck one past Friedman-Gerlicz. The Athenas answered quickly in the second half, as Lizzie Van Buskirk (CMC JR) tied the game, but two goals within three minutes by the cowgirls was too much for CMS, and the Athenas' season ended in a 3-1 defeat.