Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (CMS) men’s soccer fell 5-1 to the Caltech Beavers on Saturday, Oct. 24, the Stags’ senior night. Fueled by a hat trick from Matthew Luk, Caltech dominated from the opening whistle, avenging a 2-1 loss to the Stags earlier this month. Now, with only two regular-season games left, the Stags are focusing their attention on their next steps.
Coming into the match, the Stags had won four straight games, bringing their season record to 8-4-3 and placing them tied for first in the SCIAC.
Caltech entered the game with a 5-8-1 record and a six-game losing streak. Amidst that streak, just two weeks prior, CMS had taken down the Beavers 2-1. Yet despite the odds, the Beavers beat the Stags in dominant fashion, pulling out the underdog win.
For CMS, the loss was a surprising turn of events, especially coming off of their recent success.
“We weren’t ourselves today,” James Gomez CM ’27 said. “We’re coming off a four-game win streak, and today, obviously, was our senior day. We didn’t get the result we wanted, but I think it’s just up from here. Time to bounce back.”
The Stags’ response begins with staying focused on their long term goal: winning the SCIAC playoffs. Gomez said the team’s plan for the week is to train, study film and work on areas of weakness after the tough loss.
“There wasn’t any one individual that was the reason we lost today,” Gomez said. “It was a collective loss.”
Head coach Edward Cartee acknowledged that losses like this are part of the sport, and set the team’s sights on their season to come.
“That’s American sports,” Cartee said. “You play a whole season to come down to these single-elimination games. We are pretty healthy, and I do think we’re a better team than we showed tonight. So hopefully we can show that moving forward, and hopefully this just provides more motivation.”
On the other side of the field, for Caltech, Luk’s standout performance led the way in the upset win. For Luk, the win ended a difficult stretch for Caltech. He credited his teammates’ creating scoring opportunities for the offense’s success.
“This is an amazing team win,” Luk said. “We have had a rough stretch of games. Not just myself, but I think everyone on the team played well. Everyone played amazing, and I just finished off chances.”
Caltech’s persistence and offensive aggression were on display the entire night, highlighted by Luk’s second goal. With 30 minutes to go in the second half, Luk launched a kick from outside the penalty box, which curved into the upper corner. Luk attributed the shot to his teammate Sam Mullen’s quick combination play.
“I got the ball on the right wing,” Luk said. “I tried to go one-v-one, but he shut me down, so I cut back inside. I found Sam in the middle, did a quick little one-two, and I shot with my left, and it went in.”
Caltech, having lost to the Stags earlier this month, entered the game with a new mindset, and a healthy team. For Luk, the difference came down to their roster depth and mentality.
“We got more players back,” Luk said. “That always helps. We were just way more focused. We’re just trying to get into the right headspace, and don’t focus on any of the schoolwork, anything, just focus on the game.”
Caltech hopes Saturday’s win marks a turning point.
“I mean, with a win like this against CMS, we know we can go up against anyone,” Luk said. “We should go into every single game with the belief that we can win.”
For the Stags, Cartee hoped the loss would bring some humility and focus, noting that the Stags’ postseason path is still clear.
“We’re still in a good position,” Cartee said. “We just need to win one of our last two games to clinch a playoff spot. Obviously, we’d love to get the highest seed in the playoffs we can, but you just have to get in, and then it’s anybody’s game at that point.”
With the loss, CMS fell to 8-5-3 overall and 5-3-2 in SCIAC play. This Wednesday, Oct. 28, they avenged their defeat with a 3-0 win over Cal Lutheran ahead of the rapidly approaching SCIAC tournament.
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