CLAREMONT, Calif. - John Laidlaw scored off his own rebound with 4:55 left in regulation to break a scoreless tie and give the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps men's soccer team a 1-0 win over Cal Lutheran on Wednesday evening in its regular season SCIAC finale. 

With the win, CMS moves to 12-3-2 overall and 8-3-1 in the SCIAC, securing the second seed in the league tournament and the right to host a semifinal. The Stags could still finish tied with Occidental, but would have the tiebreaker due to a win and a tie in the head-to-head series. Cal Lutheran slips to 6-7-5 overall and 4-4-3 in the league with the defeat. 

The game-winner was set up when Shaan Malik made a cutback move near the right sideline and sent a cross into the box. The ball carried over the top of several players where James Gomez was able to settle it beyond the left post. He sent a quick cross into the middle that Laidlaw flicked on target, but Gen Katashiba was able to stop it for his 11th save of the game. The rebound deflected off the post and came back into play, where Laidlaw was able to finish as he tumbled into the net. 

Miles Demarest had two saves to get the shutout for CMS, as the defensive unit of Eric Grossman-Glover, Zeno Bang, Jacoby Lockman and Nico Del Villar played tight defense in front of him, with Malik coming on to play 53 minutes in relief as well. Gomez and Rafael Otero each had three shots on target that were saved by Katashiba. 

CMS will close out the regular season with a non-conference game on Saturday against UC Santa Cruz at noon, which will also be Senior Day for the program's 10-member senior class. The Stags will then host third-seeded Occidental next week in a semifinal game at Pritzlaff Field.