Panthers on wrong end of shutout vs. Claremont

ORANGE, Calif. – Someone in the SCIAC found a way to cool down the Chapman University men's soccer team and it was a familiar foe. Visiting Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges continued to own the Panthers' number on Saturday night, defeating host Chapman 3-0 at Wilson Field. The loss snapped the Panthers' four-match winning streak and five-match unbeaten streak.

After shutting out its last three opponents and going 356 consecutive minutes without allowing a goal, it was Chapman (7-5-2 overall, 5-4-1 SCIAC) that was kept off the scoreboard on Saturday. Claremont (8-4-1 overall, 7-2-1 SCIAC) held the Panthers to just five shots in the match – one on goal – while keeping a clean sheet for the third time in its past five SCIAC games.

The Stags snapped a scoreless tie with a goal by Joseph Romano in the 43rd minute on a pass from Elijah Lichtenberg, giving CMS a 1-0 lead going into halftime.

In the second half Claremont padded its lead with goals from Ethan Hallberg (56') and Hogan Marhoefer (73') to put the contest out of reach.

Chapman sophomore GK Nick Berardi – who had been in goal for each of the previous three shutouts and had not been scored upon since Sept. 28 – faced 11 shots and made a pair of saves.

The Panthers have now lost five in a row to Claremont, dating back to a 1-0 NCAA playoff loss to the Stags in 2011. CMS got the best of Chapman in Claremont last month, overcoming a two-goal deficit to win 3-2 in double overtime.

Chapman will play four of its final six matches on the road beginning on Wednesday at Caltech at 4 p.m. That may be good news for the Panthers who have won just seven of 18 home matches over the past two seasons.

by Doug Aiken
Sports Information Director

Boxscore: http://chapmanathletics.com/sports/msoc/2013-14/boxscores/20131012_l0z4.xml

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