#5 Mines vs. Black Hills State, Friday, 6:30 p.m. [Live Video] [Live Stats]
#5 Mines vs. Regis, Sunday, 2:30 p.m. [Live Video] [Live Stats]
 

---

RMAC TITLE ON THE LINE THIS WEEKEND
With three games left in the regular season, #5 Mines returns home to host Black Hills State and Regis this weekend. Sunday's game will be senior day as the Orediggers meet Regis in their final regular-season home game. The Orediggers (13-1-1, 10-0-0 RMAC) have a chance to clinch the RMAC championship with two wins in their final three games, sitting three points ahead of UCCS with the head-to-head tiebreak over them. It would be Mines' fifth RMAC regular-season title having previously finished first in 2013, 2014, 2015, and 2016.
 
OREDIGGERS TOP NCAA REGIONAL RANKINGS
Mines topped the first NCAA South Central regional rankings announced Wednesday, a key indicator of selection for the NCAA Championship. The Orediggers sit atop the region ahead of West Texas A&M and UCCS. Mines is 4-0 against other ranked teams in the South Central, with wins over #3 UCCS, #4 Westminster, #6 St. Edward's, and #7 MSU Denver.

OREDIGGERS BEAT UCCS, MSU DENVER
Last weekend was one of the toughest tests Mines has seen all year, and the Orediggers passed with flying colors in a pair of 2-1 wins. On Friday at #16 UCCS, Mines got an own goal off Emma Peterson's creation early the second half before allowing a late equalizer; Jennifer Kendall scored off a defensive misplay in the 99^th minute to win it for Mines, who outshot UCCS 15-9. At MSU Denver on Monday, first-half goals by Kaylee Kennedy and Hannah Stoner made the difference in the 2-1 win as the Mines defense held the RMAC's highest-scoring offense to a single early goal off a corner.

IN THE POLLS
Despite the 2-0 weekend, Mines slipped one spot to #5 in this week's United Soccer Coaches poll. It is the 45th time that Mines has received a top-10 ranking since 2009; since the start of the 2013 season, the Orediggers have been nationally ranked in 59 of a possible 67 polls.

EVERYBODY SCORES
While Jennifer Kendall and Nicole LaTourette lead Mines with six and four goals apiece, respectively, the offense has certainly been by committee this season for the Orediggers. Ten different players have at least one goal and a dozen have at least one point as Peyton Sanders, Emily Townsend, and Hannah Stoner all have three goals, Taylor McRae has scored twice, and Acacia Ortiz, Eliot Edwards, Emma Peterson, and Kaylee Kennedy all have goals this season. Mines' co-assist leaders are Kendall and Dominique Rivera at four each.

STAY GOLDEN
Jennifer Kendall's overtime winner at UCCS was Mines' first golden goal of 2018, but Kendall is hardly a stranger to scoring in big moments. The senior also had the overtime winner at Dallas Baptist in last year's NCAA First Round, and she is one of two active Orediggers - along with Peyton Sanders - to have two career OT winners. Mines has four active players with at least one overtime goal in their careers:

Jennifer Kendall at UCCS (10/12/18)
Jennifer Kendall at Dallas Baptist (11/11/17)
Nicole LaTourette vs. Western State (10/15/17)
Peyton Sanders vs. Midwestern State (11/9/17)
Peyton Sanders vs. Texas A&M-Commerce (11/18/16)
Emily Townsend vs. Regis (9/18/16)

MINES VS. BHSU AND REGIS
Mines is 2-0 against Black Hills State, which began its soccer program in 2016. The Orediggers won 4-1 last year in Spearfish and 4-0 in 2016. The Mines-Regis series is much more storied, with it being Mines' most-played series as they meet for the 26^th time on Sunday. Mines leads the series 16-8-1 and are 4-0-1 in the last five meetings. Last year the pair tied 1-1 in a lightning-shortened game in Denver early in the season, but Mines won 2-0 at home behind goals from Taylor McRae and Haley Cole in October.

SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION
Black Hills State has struggled this year with a 0-13-1 record, with their lone draw coming in a 2-2 game against Colorado Mesa. THe Yellow Jackets score 0.93 goals per game while allowing 3.86. Katie Nielson and Mikayla Hernandez lead the team with three goals apiece. Regis, at 7-4-2 overall and 6-3 in RMAC play, is in the hunt for a top-four RMAC Tournament seed as they currently sit in fifth place. They are tough defensively, allowing just 0.77 goals per game, and score 1.69 on the offensive end. Tori Rinsem leads the squad with five goals, while Emily Ramos has an RMAC-leading eight assists.

BITS AND PIECES
Mines is 10-0 in RMAC play for only the second time in program history after their undefeated conference season in 2013 … The Orediggers improved to 21-13-9 all-time against teams ranked in the top 25 with the win at UCCS … Jennifer Kendall is Mines' active scoring leader, scoring her 17th career goal at UCCS ... Kendall is now seventh on the Mines career scoring list and fourth in game-winning goals at eight … Kendall's six goals this season ranks sixth in the RMAC … Acacia Ortiz is Mines' active points and assists leader with 35 (8 goals, 19 assists) … Kaylee Kennedy's goal at MSU Denver was the first of her career … It was also Mines' fastest goal of the year, coming only 1:23 into the game … Freshman Eliot Edwards earned her first career start at UCCS … Shannon Mooney is third on the Mines career shutout list at 21 … Mines holds the RMAC's best GAA at 0.40 ... Mooney tops the RMAC in GAA (0.40) and save percentage (.864) … Head coach Kevin Fickes is 147-28-21 overall and 92-14-9 in RMAC play in his ninth season.

LOOKING AHEAD
Mines will have only one game in the final week of RMAC play, visiting Colorado Christian on Saturday, Oct. 27 at 1:30 p.m. Pending the final three games of the regular season, the Orediggers will likely host an RMAC Tournament quarterfinal on Tuesday, Oct. 30 at a time to be announced.