#23 Mines vs. #7 Dallas Baptist, Thursday, 5 p.m. | Stermole Stadium  [Live Stats] [Live Video]

#23 Mines vs. West Texas A&M, Saturday, 12 p.m. | Stermole Stadium  [Live Stats] [Live Video]
 

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The 2016 season begins Thursday with a rematch of last year's NCAA Tournament Second Round as #23 Colorado School of Mines hosts #7 Dallas Baptist at Stermole Stadium before welcoming West Texas A&M on Saturday.
 
On The RMAC Network
Every Mines home game – and many away games - this season will be streamed live and for free on the RMAC Network. Visit MinesAthletics.com/tv for the full broadcast schedule.

The Series
Mines and Dallas Baptist are no strangers, having met five times over the last four seasons (including twice in the NCAA Tournament) with the series split 2-2-1. DBU won both meetings last year by a 2-0 score in Dallas, first in the season opener and then in the NCAA Tournament Second Round. Mines is 4-0-0 against West Texas A&M, beating the Buffs 2-0 in Dallas last year on goals by Laya Rybicki and Acacia Ortiz.

Wearing the Armband
Mines has named senior goalkeeper Sam Zumbro, redshirt junior forward Anna Deleray, and junior defender Emily Garnier as captains for 2016.

In the Polls
Mines enters ranked #23 nationally in preseason by the NSCAA, and they were the overwhelming favorite in the RMAC preseason coaches' poll to earn their sixth straight title. Dallas Baptist comes in ranked #7 by the NSCAA and was also the favorite in the Heartland Conference after winning two titles in the last four seasons. West Texas A&M was selected fourth in the Lone Star Conference preseason poll.

With Honors
Mines was well-represented in the RMAC preseason awards, with four players earning Preseason All-RMAC status headed by Preseason Defensive Player of the Year Emily Garnier. Forward Haley Cole, midfielder Acacia Ortiz, and fullback Holly Weyand also took honors; all four were all-RMAC in 2015.

Welcome Back
That Mines won the RMAC double in 2015 was impressive enough, but that they did it without four injured starters was even more special. Three will be back for 2016: forward Anna Deleray, who missed the entire season, defender Cari Smith, who only played in three games, and midfielder Caitlin Kaltenbaugh, who played nine games before suffering a season-ending injury. Deleray was all-RMAC in 2014 with 3 goals, while Kaltenbaugh scored twice in nine 2015 games; Smith was a crucial part of Mines' smothering defense in 2014, starting 24 times.

Not In Our House
Mines returns all of an outstanding defense from 2015, led by all-American central defender Emily Garnier, who was the RMAC's Defensive Player of the Year as a sophomore. She'll anchor a unit that includes goalkeeper Sam Zumbro (0.70 GAA, .836), center back Emily Townsend, and fullbacks Kortney Descamp and Holly Weyand. The unit allowed only 0.68 goals per game last season.

Plenty of Punch
The Orediggers also bring back their top six points-scorers and 89 percent of their point production from last year, led by 2015 all-region selections Acacia Ortiz (5G, 6A) and Haley Cole (7G, 2A) along with Brooke Stoermer (5G, 3A), Laya Rybicki (4G), Jaclyn Knott (1G, 2A), Peyton Sanders (2G), and the returns of Kaltenbaugh (2G, 1A) and Deleray (3G, 1A in 2014).

Looking Ahead
After the opening weekend, Mines will head to southern California for two games, visiting Cal State San Bernardino on Sept. 9 and UC San Diego on Sept. 11. Mines returns home Sept. 16 for their RMAC opener against MSU Denver.