PASADENA, Calif. — Caltech Men's Soccer battled Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges on Saturday in a competitive morning clash at North Field.

Both teams delivered strong defensive performances in the first half with no goals being scored. Just over a minute into the contest, the Stags fired an early shot from the left wing but a good save by sophomore goalkeeper Ethan Hamel (Portola Valley, Calif. / Woodside) prevented the score. After the early opportunity, shots on goal were few and far between for the remainder of the half. Caltech earned several chances off corner kicks, but couldn't quite capitalize as the game remained scoreless. In the 33rd minute, the Beavers had a good opportunity with a shot by first-year midfielder Dean Yao (Philadelphia / Germantown Friends) from inside the box on the right wing before the CMS keeper denied it.

With just over ten minutes remaining in the half, CMS made a plethora of substitutions and attempted to make a push before the halftime break. This would prove to be unsuccessful as Caltech stayed strong defensively around the net forcing a shot wide right. This was followed up by an impressive save with just ten seconds left in the half; it would be Hamel's second save of the half en-route to a four-save day.

Entering the second half tied 0-0, Hamel was right back to work with an early save off a CMS shot from the left wing just over two minutes in. After a CMS goal put the Beavers down 1-0 the Stags looked to widen their lead with a shot from the left wing in the 62nd minute but were denied again by Hamel.

Caltech tallied a couple more corner kicks with four total in the match but was not able to find the back of the net. The Beavers persisted in trying to create offensively and would get another shot on goal with under 15 minutes remaining from the top of the box by senior defender Alejandro Ortega (Mexico City, Mexico / American School Foundation) which was saved by CMS. Ortega tied with Yao and first-year forward Matthew Luk (Bel Air, Md. / C. Milton Wright) for most shots on goal for the Beavers.

The team will look to build off its strong moments on the road as the Beavers take on Chapman University this Wednesday, Oct. 16 at 4:00 pm. Follow the action at GoCaltech.com/coverage.