Third Time Not the Charm for Cal Lutheran : Soccer: Kingsmen lose again to Claremont-Mudd in SCIAC championship match, 4-1.

CLAREMONT —  For three consecutive years Cal Lutheran has won the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference West Division,

Trouble is, the Kingsmen have had to face East Division champion Claremont-Mudd for the SCIAC title. On Saturday powerful Claremont prevailed, 4-1, marking the third time in a row the Kingsmen’s championship aspirations were doused by the Stags.

The result was somewhat predictable.

Claremont-Mudd (15-2-1), which won its 10th match in a row, has now sat atop the final conference standings for 14 consecutive seasons.

“Claremont has tradition,” Cal Lutheran Coach Dan Kuntz said. “And their players are big, strong, fast and very aggressive.

“They’re the team this year from our conference and there’s no doubt about that.”

Stag Coach Steve Davis had doubts whether Saturday’s match-up deserved championship-game billing.

Cal Lutheran (6-14) won the West with a 6-4 mark, which would have been no better than fourth in the East Division.

“In our minds, the real championship game was last week against (East runner-up) Pomona-Pitzer,” said Davis, who will be notified today whether his eighth-ranked Stags will be awarded a home berth in next week’s NCAA Division III West Regional.

Claremont-Mudd also will anxiously chart the recovery of standout senior forward Patrick Gorgue, who was helped from the field in the 53rd minute after suffering a deep bruise to his right hip.

Gorgue scored his team-best 14th goal when he took a pass from Eric Wilson and headed it into an open net in the 17th minute. He added his 15th goal later in the half when he found the left corner of the net from about 50 feet.

Wilson added a goal late in the half and Claremont-Mudd entered intermission with a 3-0 lead.

Freshman midfielder Edwin Astudillo scored Cal Lutheran’s only goal, when he collected a rebound off Stag goalkeeper Travis Grant and knocked it home.

The Kingsmen’s comeback hopes were dashed in the 75th minute when Lui Cevallos took a nice breakaway pass from Ryan St. George and beat a defenseless Ryan Kaufman in net for a 4-1 lead.

Astudillo is one of 10 Cal Lutheran starters who will return next season. Cal Lutheran, which lost the title to Claremont-Mudd last season on penalty kicks, fielded a 1994 squad bereft of a returning starter.