PASADENA, Calif. — 2023 proved to be a historic year for the Caltech men's soccer team, who recorded the program's highest win total in 53 years.

The group picked up six strong wins as part of a 6-6-4 record, with three of those wins coming over SCIAC opponents. The Beavers finished the year tied for the fourth-most wins in the conference.

It is an impressive feat for third-year head coach Duncan Gillis and the program, who have now won 10 total games across the past three seasons. The program won just seven games from 2012 to Gillis' arrival in 2021.

Sophomore midfielder Ishaan Mantripragada (Saratoga, Calif. / The Harker School) finished the season leading conference play in scoring while sophomore midfielder Etienne Casanova (San Jose, Calif. / Saratoga) tied for first in assists during conference play. Both athletes won First Team All-SCIAC and All-Region honors while Mantripragada won Co-Athlete of the Year at the Caltech Student-Athlete Celebration.

The magical season began in September with three straight victories, two of which came on the road in Oregon.

Opening night saw the Beavers face off against Lewis & Clark College on Sep. 1 in Portland, where Caltech earned the dominant 3-0 shutout victory. It was sophomore forward Jack Myles (Houston / Bridgeland) who knocked in the team's first score of its 32-goal season in the first few minutes before junior forward Andy Dimnaku (Wellesley, Mass. / Wellesley) found Casanova for a goal in the 39th. Casanova made it two-in-a-row as Mantripragada assisted him a few minutes out of halftime to make it a 3-0 game before the final buzzer sounded. The Beavers' strong defense showed out for all 90 minutes, limiting the Pioneers to just four shots with none on goal.

It was a quick rest for the men, who returned to action two days later as they faced off against Linfield University in a far closer battle. Casanova scored the first goal of the contest on their first shot, though the hosts responded with a successful penalty kick to tie it up at 1-1. A nice score from sophomore midfielder Wilson Duan (Foster City, Calif. / Aragon) put Caltech up 2-1 before halftime. The Wildcats equalized in the 70th minute, though the Caltech attackers continued peppering the opposition with on-target shots and eventually broke the tie in the 84th minute as Mantripragada's corner kick fed senior midfielder Rohan Iyer (Queens, N.Y. / Townsend Harris) for the go-ahead goal to make it 3-2 before time expired.

The team soon returned to Pasadena for its home opener against Life Pacific University, where the Beavers posted a commanding 5-1 victory. It was a barrage of scoring from the Institute, who nabbed its highest single-game goal total of the season. Casanova and Dimnaku each scored a pair while Myles found the back of the net once.

Caltech stayed undefeated after playing their next contest three days later as they tied a talented group from Hope International University, 1-1. Mantripragada found his first goal of the year after he delivered a beautifully curved shot on a free kick opportunity which found the left side of the net, out of reach of the goalie. Senior goalkeeper Julio Arroyo (San Salvador, El Savador / Highlands International School) came up with five big stops with no goals allowed in his 45 second half minutes.

Sep. 16 marked the date of the team's conference home opener, and it was then that the Beavers earned a monumental 1-0 victory over Pomona-Pitzer Colleges. It was the Sagehens' first SCIAC loss of the fall.

With under three minutes remaining in the opening half, Casanova put his dazzling foot skill on display, moving the ball from the backfield up the pitch and swerving opponents before tapping it ahead to Myles, who immediately shot it past the opposing goalkeeper, who had rushed out of the six-yard box. All watched as the shot bounced into the back of the net, electrifying the home crowd at North Field. Senior goalkeeper Derek Ing (Hong Kong / Hong Kong International School) swallowed Pomona-Pitzer's final shot attempt at 82:39 and the Caltech defense held up in the remaining moments to secure the 1-0 shutout win. Ing played all 90 minutes in goal and came up with six saves.

The Beavers protected their undefeated home record in their next matchup against La Verne, picking up a huge 4-2 victory to improve to 5-1-1 on the year. It was the Leopards who put in the first goal of the game, though Caltech matched the score 15 minutes later after Mantripragada drew a foul in the box and connected on the penalty kick.

About twenty minutes into the second half, first-year defender Aaron Henslovitz (Livingston, N.J. / Livingston) sent a cross to Casanova, who had positioned himself inside the box; the midfielder received the pass with his right foot and immediately delivered it into the goal. Not four minutes later, Casanova registered a second score after getting the feed from Mantripragada and advancing the ball forward before sending it between two defenders and into the net. La Verne made it a one-goal deficit in the 84th minute though Caltech earned an insurance goal minutes later after Mantripragada stole an errant pass from the Leopards and quickly pushed the ball ahead before firing for the score and securing the 4-2 win.

The Beavers went on to tie Whittier College, 4-4, with goals coming from Mantripragada (two), Casanova and Myles. The team then tied the defending conference champion Panthers of Chapman University, 2-2, with Mantripragada finding the back of the net for both scores.

Caltech outdueled the Poets in their Oct. 14 rematch, topping their opponents, 4-1. Casanova and Mantripragada each reached 10 goals on the season, with the former scoring once and the latter twice; strong pressure from the Beavers forced Whittier into an own goal.

The squad wrapped up the season with a terrific Senior Day performance against Claremont-Mudd-Scripps College, tying the Stags 1-1. CMS scored in the 42nd minute and held the lead for much of the contest, though Caltech did not let up. With the clock approaching three minutes remaining, junior defender Andrew Chiang (Carlsbad, Calif. / Santa Fe Christian) intercepted a CMS pass and fed the ball up to a surging Mantripragada, who pushed it into the opposing box before sending a cross to Myles. The forward quickly kicked the ball to an unguarded Casanova at 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; time expired moments later.

"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.

Mantripragada concluded the season with the most goals scored in conference play (10) among all players in the SCIAC, beating out the next-highest scoring player by two goals. The standout also finished the year with the most points in conference play (22) as he added two assists on top of his ten goals; the Saratoga native beat out the next-highest player in the conference by three whole points. He and Casanova tied for second in the SCIAC in goals when including both conference and non-conference games (11 a piece).

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

2023 was the second straight year of All-SCIAC honors for the two Beavers, who both achieved All-Region recognition for the first time as well. Casanova earned First Team honors while Mantripragada nabbed Second Team.

Ing was given the SCIAC Award of Distinction, which recognizes a player for their "exemplary achievements through their higher education experience — specifically for making significant contributions representing their school and serving their communities." Ing graduates as a two-year captain who logged 36 saves in his senior season; he took on an important leadership and mentorship role with three first-year goalkeepers on the roster.

The record-breaking group will look to continue its rise as they take on the 2024 season this fall. Stay tuned for an official schedule release this summer.

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