On Wednesday, Oct. 23, Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (CMS) women’s soccer came ready for battle against Occidental to secure a 1-0 win and collect their second consecutive win against the Tigers after defeating them 3-1 on Oct. 16.
Despite a tight battle in the first half leaving the teams in a deadlock, Tori Holden CM ’25 scored the game-winner with 20 minutes remaining. Following the two wins against the Tigers, CMS now sits in third place in SCIAC with a conference record of 7-2.
However, according to defender Annie McKinley CM ’25, the Athena’s sights are set beyond the SCIAC this year as they aim to get redemption against Pomona-Pitzer (P-P) and compete in the national tournament.
“Pomona-Pitzer has always been a big adversary for us,” McKinley said. “We consistently find ourselves matched up against them in the tournament and the last two years they’ve been the ones who knocked us out. We ended last season on a pretty bitter note and it’s kind of fueling this season.”
Even if the Athenas don’t come out on top in the SCIAC tournament, there is still a chance for them to compete in the postseason championship if they are ranked highly on the national stage.
“We want to play in November, that’s the big goal, getting out of our league and doing something beyond,” Kaitlyn Helfrich CM ’25 said. “I’ve wanted to make NCAAs since freshman year, and I think everyone on the team has that mindset.”
In order to build a national ranking, the Athenas must remain consistent in the regular season which is why, according to Helfrich, games like these are crucial to the team’s success.
“This was an important night to get a win and keep the momentum going,” Helfrich said. “We just want to have momentum going into playoffs and postseason.”
CMS has won their last four games, only falling to Cal Lutheran and P-P this season. Helfrich described how maintaining a calm mindset has been a deciding factor in the recent close wins.
“We’ve been in a lot of zero-zero games at halftime against teams we are controlling possession against, so we try not to be frantic,” she said. “I think we felt really in control and it was just about getting the ball in the net.”
Even though neither CMS nor Occidental scored in the first half, the Athenas maintained control, only allowing Occidental one shot on goal while boasting 11 themselves.
Helfrich described how the Athenas’ dominant possession in the first half paved the way for Holden’s 69th-minute goal.
“We were able to just finish the game and be more composed on the ball knowing that we’re in the driver’s seat and we’re in position to win the game,” she said.
Helfrich and Frankie Fragola CM ’27 both saw contributions to Holden’s game-winner; starting from far back in the left wing, Fragola sent a cross to the top of the 6-yard box where Helfrich found the ball and centered it to Holden.
“We’d been waiting for a good whipped-in ball like that all game,” Helfrich said. “Good build-up from the entire team, it started from the back line and a good finish by [Holden].”
Along with their second-half grit, the Athena’s strength this year is also in their numbers.
“We have a big team this year which brings the intensity in training and that translates a lot into our games too,” Fragola said.
CMS continues to stack the odds in their favor moving into the postseason which for seniors like McKinley, is what it’s all about.
“We have a chance to really make a run into the postseason, which is what me and all my other seniors have been looking for in the past four years,” she said.
The Athenas will look to snatch up another win when they travel to Caltech on Saturday, Oct. 26, where they will face off against Whitter and P-P the following week.
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