EAGLE ROCK, Calif. - John Laidlaw had two goals in the first half, and Ben Bacdayan had a goal and a late clearance off the line in the second half, as the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps men's soccer team earned a 3-3 tie at Occidental on Saturday evening. 

With the tie, the Stags move to 3-6-4 on the year and 2-3-2 in the SCIAC, while Occidental moves to 4-4-3 overall and 2-2-2 in league play. 

The game got off to a frenetic start with four of the first five shots going into the net, two from each team. Laidlaw opened the scoring just 1:37 into the contest when he tapped in a loose ball off the crossbar after a shot from Collin Ross, before Occidental equalized on a goal from Devin Bening 8:03 into the game. 

Laidlaw put the Stags ahead for the second time at the 10:52 mark, getting to a header from the Occidental goalie outside the box and hitting a 30-yarder into the vacated net, but once again Bening answered for the Tigers at the 15:19 mark. 

The game settled in and remained tied at 2-2 at the half, before Bacdayan put CMS ahead 2:23 into the second half with his first career goal, a 30-yard rocket inside the left post off a back heel pass from Paxton Greene. Occidental, though, answered for a third time in the 57th minute to make the score 3-3. 

With five minutes left, Occidental, which was playing a man down after a red card in the 73rd minute, took a corner kick that Vicente Navarro sent on frame from 10 yards out. Bacdayan, though, stayed at home on his post and slid down to block the ball from going into the net, keeping it a 3-3 game, and adding a big defensive play to go with his goal.

CMS will be back in action on Wednesday when it hosts Stanton in a non-conference game, before returning to SCIAC play on Saturday at home against Pomona-Pitzer.