The CMS men's soccer team traveled to Boston last weekend to take on MIT and Babson College, both teams that made the NCAA tournament last season. After a full day of flights on Thursday, the Stags got the trip started off on the right foot with a 2-1 win over MIT on Friday under the lights. Despite the rain and the chilly temperatures, CMS played well from the initial whistle and found the back of the net in the 28th minute through Harrison Doyle (FR, Hidden Hills), marking the team's first goal of their 2009 campaign and a 1-0 lead. Doyle received the ball, looked up, and rocketed a left-footed shot over the MIT goalie, off the crossbar, and into the goal. The Stags could not hang onto the lead though. Late into the second half, the Engineers fought back and leveled the score off of a driven ball from a set play to send the game into sudden death overtime. CMS continued to dominate play, and with just three minutes remaining in the game, lightning struck twice. Lewis Corson (JR, Greenwich, CT) lofted the ball over the MIT defense, found the foot of Rodrigo Bravo Beneitez (FR, San Diego) who laid the ball of to Doyle who smashed home another left-footed bullet for the victory.

On Sunday, the Stags took on the Beavers of Babson College, but were unable to take points away from the game before heading back to Claremont. CMS seemed to have the better of the chances in the first half, logging a total of 8 shots in the first 45 minutes. The second half proved different as the Beavers opened the scoring in the 68th minute with a 25-yard rip, leaving goalkeeper Ryan Fahey (SR, Bellevue, WA) no chance. Just eight minutes later, Babson capitalized on a CMS mistake and sealed the game with a second goal. The Stags kept on battling until the final whistle, recording 10 shots in the second half in the 2-0 loss.

This Wednesday, CMS plays host to Cal Lutheran University for the first game of the SCIAC regular season. The game will be take place at 4:00 PM at Pritzlaff Field.