CLAREMONT, Calif. - The Claremont-Mudd-Scripps men's soccer team will play its first-ever game at its new facility when it hosts No. 2 Trinity (Texas) on Friday evening for a 7 p.m. contest at Nakasone Field. 

CMS got its season started on the road on Tuesday, defeating UC Santa Cruz 3-2 on a late comeback. Sean Lee tied the game with his second goal of the contest, and then fed Daniel Zhu for the game-winner in the 88th minute. 

The win represented a strong start to the 2026 campaign for the Stags, who are looking to get back to the form they had in 2024, when they won the SCIAC Championship and advanced to the Round of 16 in the NCAA Tournament. CMS was picked to finish third in this year's preseason poll in a vote of the SCIAC's head coaches. 

With the opening of the Sports Bowl at the Roberts Campus, which will be the new home for football, lacrosse, track and field, baseball and softball, the men's and women's soccer programs relocated to the former football stadium. The track was removed and the facility was converted into a soccer field 120 yards long and 80 yards wide, the maximum allowable by the NCAA. With these field dimensions, CMS is now eligible to host NCAA tournaments.

Nakasone Field is covered with Tahoma 31 Bermudagrass. Tahoma 31 has achieved mass adoption for competitive soccer due to its high density, rapid healing from cleat damage, and tight footing. It also uses 20-60 percent less water than traditional grasses.

CMS women's soccer had its debut at Nakasone on Tuesday and came away with a hard-fought 2-1 win over UC Santa Cruz. The new stadium will feature a doubleheader on Sunday as the Athenas take on Redlands at 11 a.m., followed by the Stags facing Lewis & Clark at 2 p.m.