Los Angeles, Calif. (Oct. 30, 2021) - Saving its best for last, the Caltech men's soccer team closed its 2021 campaign earning a point from a tie on the road against a strong Occidental College side. With the effort, Caltech finished in eighth place in the SCIAC, the team's best finish since tying for eighth in 2006.

"Saturday night was a really strong team effort from the guys overall," first year head coach Duncan Gillis said. "The team played incredibly hard for 110 minutes and didn't give in to an extremely physical team."

Occidental had been one of the most underrated teams in the West region throughout the year, recording the second-toughest strength-of-schedule behind national No. 5 Trinity (Texas) University (likely rising to No. 3 after the weekend's games) and just three days prior tying unbeaten (in DIII play) No. 20 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges.

While numerous Beavers played very well throughout the match, it was the effort of sophomore goalkeeper Derek Ing (Hong Kong / Hong Kong International School) that stood out most. Facing 27 shots while making 10 saves on the evening, Ing helped the Beavers achieve a draw with his clean sheet effort.

"I thought it was his best performance of the year," Gillis said. "Our back line played extremely well all night and it was a tremendous game for our seniors. It was a terrific way for them to remember their last game in a Caltech uniform. I am very proud of them and the leadership they've demonstrated throughout the year."

Defensively, seniors JD Walker (Grand Blanc, Mich. / Grand Blanc) and Andrew Larson (Portland, Ore. / Jesuit) played superbly. With the Beavers defending well and playing much of the match in their defensive half, it was senior Rohan Mirchandani (Pleasanton, Calif. / Foothill) on the offensive end showing a very high work rate as he constantly possessed the ball in dangerous positions in the attack.

"We created some good chances mostly on the counter," Gillis said. "They are a big, physical team and they wanted the ball forward."

As the season has ended and the team looks forward to the Fall 2022 campaign, Coach Gillis reflected on the efforts of the entire team, especially the senior class:

"I was really impressed with their ability to come together. Dealing with the impacts of COVID-19, being away from the game for an extended period of time, and then the transition to a new coaching staff was asking a lot of the entire group. The seniors' attitude and effort led the way. When you couple the enthusiasm of how we ended the season and those players that will return, along with the optimism of being able to potentially work with talented student-athletes in the incoming class, we are very excited about the future of Caltech men's soccer program."