PASADENA, Calif. — Caltech Men's Soccer earned a hard-fought 1-1 tie against the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges on Saturday as the Beavers competed in their final matchup of 2023. With the result, the team concludes the season with a 6-6-4 record – one of the strongest records in the history of the program.

The team honored its seven graduating members – goalkeepers Julio Arroyo and Derek Ing, midfielders Daniel Li, Brandon Guo and Rohan Iyer, and defenders Eli Seiner and Hector Wilson – with a Senior Day ceremony prior to the game.

The Beavers produced a brilliant defensive performance for almost the entirety of the first half as they forced the Stags into off-target shots. On the other end of the field, Iyer came up with a promising opportunity in the 41st minute as he sent a shot from in the box, but a CMS defender stepped in for the block.

The guests put the first score on the board with just under four minutes remaining in the half, though the Beavers soon responded with some offensive firepower of their own; the group registered seven shots in the second half after logging just one in the first 45 minutes.

Junior forward Andy Dimnaku posted the first shot of the second half in the 58th minute, though he missed just wide.

Caltech continued to put pressure on the CMS defense as the match continued; in a span of three minutes, sophomore midfielder Wilson Duan, Iyer and Li each attempted a shot, though none proved to be the equalizer.

The team continued fighting down one score, with sophomore midfielder Etienne Casanova and sophomore forward Ishaan Mantripragada each firing off shots in the latter part of the half.

With the clock approaching three minutes remaining, the Beavers created an exceptional opportunity in the clutch. After intercepting a CMS pass in the backfield, junior defender Andrew Chiang fed a perfect pass up ahead to a surging Mantripragada, who pushed the ball into the opposing box before sending a cross to sophomore forward Jack Myles. The forward quickly passed the ball to an unguarded Casanova at the the top of the box, who delivered a zooming, perfectly-placed shot into the bottom left corner of the net. The home crowd went wild as the score became 1-1.

The game concluded as a draw as the Beavers end the year with a significant tie over a strong CMS squad, who will now move on to the SCIAC Postseason Tournament.

Head coach Duncan Gillis was incredibly pleased with how the team performed in their final game of 2023.

"Coach [Rockne DeCoster] and I could not be more proud of the boys for fighting back and getting a result on Senior Day against a strong CMS team," said Gillis. "We were missing our starting two center backs and we asked the guys to try out a formation we had not played all year with only two days to train it before the game. They all bought in and executed very well," he said.

Chiang played a major role in anchoring that defensive formation as the team switched to a 3-5-2; the standout was awarded SCIAC Defensive Player of the Week honors on Monday. Chiang and the Beaver backline held the Stags to just two shots on goal.

Mantripragada concludes the season with the most goals scored in conference play among all players in the SCIAC. The star's ten goals is two more than the next highest goal-scorer.

Mantripragada and Casanova come in a tie for second in season goals when including both conference and non-conference games; each player scored 11 on the year.

Casanova ends the year tied for first in conference play for assists, with five. The standout also ties the program's single-season assists record, set by teammate Mantripragada one year ago.

For the senior class, the game served as the final time they will don the Beaver uniform.

"Our seven seniors who played their last game have all given so much to this program, and we cannot thank them enough for everything they've done," said Gillis. "I'm glad we could honor their dedication and efforts with a good result today."

The group will now rest up before returning to the pitch in 2024. Follow Caltech Men's Soccer on Instagram and follow Caltech Athletics on Facebook, Twitter/X and Instagram.