Box Score How It Happened
The striker sessions came up huge this week as #8 Colorado School of Mines (17-0-3) didn't have many scoring opportunities, but the ones they got they made sure it counted in a 2-1 win over St. Edward's University (15-3-2) in the second round of the NCAA Men's Soccer Tournament on November 14 at Stermole Stadium.
In quite the contrast from the regular season contest, today's game was much more open and offensive as both teams spent considerable time in the other's final third.
The Orediggers looked extremely spy in the opening few minutes of the game as they got off several good looks that just missed their target. The positive offensive thinking would pay off at the 19:40 mark when sophomore Nikolaus Grotz sent a wicked cross into the center of the box from the left flank that landed at the feet of senior Chayce Moniz who immediately buried into it into the bottom right corner.
Now behind a goal, St. Edward's turned up the intensity and started really challenging the Mines backline with a lot of physicality. Then in the 38', SEU's Ty Mobley drove all the way to the bottom of the box where he angled a pass back into the center of the six-meter box that Steve Aoudou buried into the top of the net.
St. Edward's took their new found momentum into the second half as Karl DeZoeten challenged Mines' Collin Hall early with a hard shot. The Hilltoppers would put five shots – three on target - and earned four corners over the first 11 minutes of the final half.
With Hall standing tall in net, the Orediggers held off the flurry by St. Edward's which set the scene for what happened in the 72'.
Mines earned a corner kick at 71:14 in which senior Jared Herselman delivered a beauty from the leftside of the pitch to the far post where freshman John Haist nodded it into the back of net for the game winner.
After that, the Mines defense locked in and absorbed every SEU attack through the end of the contest. The Hilltoppers appeared to the have the equalizer in the 86', but a SEU player was ruled offsides in what was dangerous moment.
Notables
- With the victory, Mines now moves to 3-5 all-time in the NCAA Tournament. It was also the program's first victory since a 5-1 win over #11 Regis in 2010.
- Mines outshot St. Edward's by one (14-13), but the Hilltoppers put seven shots on target compared to only three for the Orediggers.
- John Haist's game winning header was his second of the season and his 10th goal overall. He is now second on the team in scoring trailing only senior Richard Garvey who has 12.
- On Chayce Moniz' opening goal it was his third of the season and Nikolaus Grotz' 14th assist.
- Collin Hall made five saves on the afternoon.
Quotables
"I thought it was a really good soccer match between two really good teams. We feel very fortunate that we won the match, but we have put in a lot of work the last few years to get to this stage where we could be fortunate." – Mines head coach Frank Kohlenstein.
"We have striker school all season before each practice, and it was nice to see the hard work payoff today." – Mines senior Chayce Moniz.
Up Next
Mines will now await to see who and where they will play next weekend with tomorrow's Midwestern State/Colorado Mesa contest. If Midwestern State wins the Orediggers will hit the road, but if the Mavericks pull off the upset Mines will once again play in front of its home fans.
