#16 Mines at Westminster, Friday, 4 p.m. [RMAC Network] [Live Stats]
#16 Mines at Dixie State, Sunday, 1:30 p.m. [RMAC Network] [Live Stats]
 

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ON THE ROAD AGAIN
The Orediggers make a swing through Utah this weekend to play Westminster in Salt Lake City on Friday and Dixie State in St. George on Sunday. The two road matches will be critical in the RMAC regular-season race.

LAST WEEK
The Orediggers were frustrated in 0-0 draw at Fort Lewis last Friday, outshooting the Skyhawks 16-4 but being stymied by a defensive-minded performance from the home team. On Sunday at Adams State, the Orediggers won 2-0 on goals by Giselle Sawaged and Lindsey Tornabene, but the story was a shut-down Mines defense that did not allow a shot in the game.

IN THE RMAC STANDINGS
Mines' draw against Fort Lewis put UCCS in sole possession of first place in the RMAC with 18 points; Mines is two back at 16 with Regis at 13. Dixie State, Fort Lewis, and MSU Denver are all at eight points and five teams, including Westminster, are on seven.

IN THE POLLS
Despite not losing a game since Sept. 15, Mines fell seven spots to #16 in this week's United Soccer Coaches' poll. The Orediggers have been nationally ranked in 69 of a possible 77 polls.

SAWAGED EARNS BACK-TO-BACK RMAC AWARDS
For the second consecutive week, Colorado School of Mines' Giselle Sawaged was named the RMAC Defensive Player of the Week. Sawaged scored the game's opening goal on a spectacular 40-yard chip from midfield at Adams State, and for the weekend helped Mines allow only 2.0 shots and 1.0 shots on goal per game.

LET ME STOP YOU RIGHT THERE…
The Mines defense is riding a streak of 325:03 scoreless minutes dating back to the CSU-Pueblo game on Sept. 27, and have worked three consecutive clean sheets heading into this weekend's slate. The Orediggers own a 0.45 GAA (ninth in NCAA Division II) having outscored opponents 31-5 this season. At Adams State on Sunday, Mines didn't even allow a shot for the first time in a game since 2016.

FICKES WINS #100 IN RMAC PLAY
Sunday's Adams State win was the 100th of head coach Kevin Fickes' career in RMAC competition. Fickes is 100-14-10 in conference play in his 10th season.

SCOUTING WESTMINSTER [SERIES: Mines, 4-0-0]
Coming off an NCAA Tournament appearance last year, the Griffins are 5-2-2 this year and 2-2-1 in the RMAC, most recently suffering losses to Regis and #1 UCCS before beating MSU Denver 1-0. Westminster is allowing just 0.67 goals per game and offensively are led by Sarah Reiber, Brynnae Braun, and Bella Riche, who each have two goals. Hillary Weixler has a 0.69 GAA and .821 save percentage. Mines is 4-0-0 against Westminster since they first met in 2015. Among current Orediggers, Chaney Brugman and Giselle Sawaged have goals and Emma Peterson has an assist against WC; Peterson assisted Peyton Sanders' 63rd-minute winner in last year's 1-0 victory in Golden.

SCOUTING DIXIE STATE [SERIES: Mines, 2-0-0]
The Trailblazers are 4-2-3 overall and 2-1-2 in the RMAC coming off a 2-1 loss to #1 UCCS in which they had a tie game deep into the second half. DSU is scoring two goals a game with a distributed effort much like Mines, with Whitley Johns and Alexa Ashton leading the team at two goals apiece and Kelsey Cook handing out five assists. Five different goalkeepers have seen time. Mines and DSU played twice last year, both 1-0 Oredigger wins; in the regular season Eliot Edwards' goal was the difference, while in the RMAC Tournament semifinals Jennifer Kendall scored off a misplay by the goalkeeper.

BITS AND PIECES
Head coach Kevin Fickes won is now 162-29-23 overall and 100-14-10 in RMAC play in his 10th season … Fickes entered the season third on the NCAA Division II active coaching list for winning percentage (.811) … Mines is undefeated in 24 consecutive RMAC regular-season games dating back to 2017 … Through six RMAC games this season, the Orediggers have outscored opponents 24-2 … The scoreless draw at Fort Lewis was Mines' first in RMAC play since 2015 against MSU Denver … Prior to the Adams State win, Mines had not held an opponent without a shot since 2016 against Black Hills State … Mines' win over Western Washington improved the program to 23-13-9 all-time against teams in the national top-25 … Seventeen different Orediggers have scored in 11  games; in 2018, a dozen different players scored in the full 22-match season … Mines leads the RMAC with 2.82 goals per game … Sawaged's three goals this year ties her career season high … She has points in four of the last six games … Mickey Hostetler's goal against CSU-Pueblo was the fastest into a game in program history (:50) … Nicole LaTourette is now tied for fifth all-time at Mines in goals (21) and game-winning goals (8) and is seventh in points (49) … Shannon Mooney is now third all-time in saves (129), second in shutouts (28), and second in career GAA (0.46).

LOOKING AHEAD
Mines returns to Stermole Stadium for Homecoming weekend to play #1 UCCS on Oct. 18 and MSU Denver on Oct. 20.