Box Score Photo by: Tony Leon/ActionWestPhotography.com
WHITTIER, Calif. – In a physical contest that saw two red cards issued, a feisty crowd surrounding the Donald E. Graham Soccer Field, and pre-game festivities for Poet Senior Day, the Whittier College men's soccer team was unable to overcome an early goal by the Stags of Claremont-M-S as they fell 1-0 during Rage the Cage Saturday evening.
With the victory, Claremont-M-S wins the regular season SCIAC Championship Title along with clinching the No. 1 seed in the SCIAC Post Season Tournament. Whittier wraps up the regular season 11-7-1, 10-5-1 SCIAC finishing in 3rd Place in the SCIAC standings, while grabbing the No. 2 overall seed in the SCIAC Post Season Tournament, which begins Wednesday, November 6 at 7:00pm when the Poets host Cal Lutheran University.
Prior to the game, Whittier head coach Shea Harwell recognized his nine seniors who were taking part in their final regular season home game. These seniors included Alex Mitchell (Bakersfield, Calif.), Luis Amaya (Anaheim, Calif.), Jamie Manning (London, England), Francis Maxwell (Clydebank, Scotland), Gary Kleman (Aberdeen, Scotland), Ian Cromwell (Pleasanton, Calif.), Gregorio Giorgi (Bologna, Italy), George Montalvo (Whittier, Calif.), and Jon Elvins (Bideford, England).
Right from the get go, you knew you were in for a wild ride with both teams playing for a lot on the line. The previous time these two teams met, was back on September 23 when the Purple & Gold stunned the Stags 2-0 on the road.
The lone goal of the game came in the 16th minute from Michael Crowley who was fed a through ball by Ethan Hallberg who placed one far post past freshman goalie Jorge Rivas (Lake Forest, Calif.).
Less than ten minutes later, a scuffle took place between both programs with the end result occurring in a red card for Stag forward Dylan Saffer and a yellow given to Maxwell forcing the Stags to play a man down giving the Poets a golden opportunity to get back into the contest. But no more than four minutes later, Maxwell was tagged with his red card after picking up his second yellow just outside the box turning the game back into an even contest 10 on 10.
In the second half, Whittier saw an opening to tie the game up in the 72nd minute coming off of a corner kick. A ball sent in by Matthew Evans (Bury St. Edmunds, England) got a head on by Cromwell that sent it near post but a Stag defender was waiting there to head the ball back out denying the Poets their best chance to add the equalizer.
Whittier received a late corner kick and had two looks in the final ten minutes from Dylan Fortin (San Diego, Calif.) and Willie O'Malley (Gig Harbor, WA) but both were turned away by the CMS defensive unit led by freshman keeper Alex Choi who totaled four saves on the evening in the shutout.
Whittier outshot the Stags 13-11 but was at a 4-3 disadvantage on corner kicks. A combined six yellow cards and two red cards were issued along with a total of 33 fouls.
Fortin, Depinna, and Pablo Gomez (Cardiff by the Sea) each had three shots apiece, while Cromwell had two.
Whittier looks to repeat a place in the SCIAC Poet Season Tournament final but will have to take out the Kingsmen of Cal Lutheran University at home, Wednesday, November 6 beginning at 7:00pm.
The other semi-final includes No. 1 Claremont-M-S and No. 4 Chapman University.
