Stags Late Strike Hands UCSC 3-2 Loss in Season Opener

Tuesday, September 1

Santa Cruz, CA

11:30 AM

UC Santa Cruz Athletics

0-1-0, 0-0-0

Claremont-Mudd-Scripps

1-0-0, 0-0-0

Team	1	2	Final F
Claremont-M-S	1	2	3
UC Santa Cruz	1	1	2

9/1/2026 2:37:00 PM | Men's Soccer

Box Score

SANTA CRUZ, Calif. – The UC Santa Cruz men's soccer team fell 3-2 in a back and forth home opener with the Stags of Claremont-Mudd-Scripps on Tuesday afternoon at the Lower East Field. UC Santa Cruz saw goals from Jake Kluka and Oliver Gill with Gill dishing out an assist as well. Soren Groessl also picked up an assist in the contest but CMS' 88th minute go ahead goal was enough to hand the Banana Slugs the loss in their season opener. The Banana Slugs held a 15-12 edge in shots with a 7-6 advantage in shots on goal. UCSC will be back in action on September 4th when they travel to Whittier College at 7:00 p.m.

How It Happened
UC Santa Cruz took the game's opening shot but after Oliver Gill's attempt went wide, CMS countered with a shot on goal, forcing Tobias Jacobson Bell to make an early save. With the two teams settling into the contest, CMS got the scoring started in the 12th minute with a header after a long cross was sent in from the endline, giving CMS the 1-0 lead. Aidan Dellinger had a dangerous opportunity get blocked in the 17th minute, but the Slugs found their equalizer later in the 21st minute. After three consecutive UCSC corners, Oliver Gill sent one in that found Jake Kluka who sent the ball into the back of the net to make it 1-1.

The contest remained tied at 1-1 for the rest of the first half, sending the two teams into the halftime break. Out of halftime, the two teams battled through physical play with back and forth chances, but Soren Groessl found an opening to Oliver Gill in the 59th minute. Gill found himself near the top of the 18 and drove forward before striking the ball to the far post past the keeper, giving UCSC the 2-1 lead with just over 30 minutes to play. Both teams had solid scoring chances following Gill's goal, but CMS scored the equalizer in the 78th minute with a hard struck ball towards the center of the cage. CMS continued to press forward, going on a full field counter that resulted in a goal in the 88th minute, striking the back of the net to steal the win from UC Santa Cruz.