#18 Mines (10-2-2, 8-0-2 RMAC) at Fort Lewis (7-4-3, 5-4-1 RMAC) – Friday, 3:30 p.m. – Durango, Colo. – [Live Stats] [Live Video]
#18 Mines (10-2-2, 8-0-2 RMAC) at Colorado Mesa (8-3-2, 6-2-2 RMAC) – Sunday, 1:30 p.m. – Grand Junction, Colo. – [Live Stats] [Live Video]
 
ON THE RMAC NETWORK
Every Mines home game and all RMAC contests can be seen live and for free on the RMAC Network at www.minesathletics.com/tv. The RMAC Network can also be found on Apple TV, Roku, Amazon Fire and Android TV devices by going to the app store and searching "RMAC".
 
WEEKEND PREVIEW
The nationally-ranked Colorado School of Mines Men's Soccer team enters the weekend sitting #1 in the RMAC standings with road matches slated at Fort Lewis and Colorado Mesa. Mines' conference standing and 10-game unbeaten streak has a target on the Orediggers' back with both FLC and CMU in the mix for a regular-season conference title. Colorado Mesa sits fourth just two wins out of first place while Fort Lewis is fifth needing a little more help. Either way, both teams are RMAC Tournament contenders and a pair of Oredigger wins should prove to be a tall task.
 
WEATHER REPORT
It appears the Oredigger men should miss the snow scheduled to roll through the Front Range this weekend. Sunny, clear skies and a temperature around 55 degrees is projected for Friday's kickoff in Durango. While no precipitation is expected, winds gusting up to 10 miles per hour could make things bit chillier.  Sunday in Grand Junction looks to have partly cloudy skies with a game-time temperature around 55 degrees. Again, wind could play a role in the comfort level and play of the match with gusts up to 15 miles per hour in the forecast. As per usual with this time of year, fans are recommended to bring layers and dress warm.
 
CATCHING UP
Over the weekend, Mines celebrated Homecoming 2019 with two wins at Stermole Stadium. On Friday, the Orediggers took down MSU Denver 2-0 thanks to goals from Ben Overholt and Jason Zobott. Patrick Allan and Talon Stanley accounted for the assists. Sunday's match against Colorado Christian was also a 2-0 win coming in blustery conditions. Lucas King scored unassisted and Connor van Loveren added the second tally thanks to a pass from Michael Sprauer.
 
SCOUTING FORT LEWIS
Fort Lewis enters the weekend touting an overall record of 7-4-3 and a conference mark of 5-4-1. The Skyhawks are fresh off a 2-0 loss to Westminster in Utah and will be playing their first home matches since hosting Westminster and Dixie State on Oct. 4 and Oct. 6. Notably, FLC started its season 6-0-3 before dropping three straight to Dixie State, UCCS and Regis. Fort Lewis has now lost four of its last five as the Skyhawks fight for their RMAC Tournament lives. Individually, Loic Jean Baptiste is FLC's top scorer behind five goals and one assist for 11 points. Brantley Bice leads the team with four assists and Peter Byrne is the man in goal with 70 saves and a 1.15 goals-against average. Byrne ranks #2 in the nation in goalie minutes played with 1334:40 and #5 in total saves.
 
WHAT'S A SKYHAWK
It is a question that has been asked and answered before, and it is one that probably should be answered again. Fort Lewis's nickname is the Skyhawks. Folks who are not in the know would simply respond that a Skyhawk is a bird, and those folks would be half right. In fact, it would seem there is no real animal that bears the name Skyhawk, but there are a whole lot of airplanes under the same moniker. So yes, it's a bird, but not a real bird. Some reading this may be familiar with the Cessna 172 Skyhawk which is a single-engine four-set light airplane. Or the ground-attack jet known as the Douglas A-4 Skyhawk. Real aircraft nerds may even know about the Seibel S-4, a helicopter evaluated by the United States Army under the designation YH-24 Sky Hawk. Those who know very little about aircraft (like the author) may have also heard of or even ridden in a Buick Skyhawk between the years of 1975-1989 or a Studebaker Sky Hawk in 1956. However, to this writer's knowledge, nobody can say they've ever seen a winged, feathered Skyhawk soaring through the skies. And now you know.
 
DIRKS FIELD
The home of Fort Lewis's men's and women's soccer is Dirks Field. It is one of three natural grass surfaces on which men's soccer is played in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference. It is named after former FLC club soccer player Martin Dirks who attended the school in the 1970's. With a capacity of 2,000, the Skyhawks led the nation in attendance for DII men's soccer in 2005 and 2006. The facility features a fence and a scoreboard (installed in 2004). The press box is shared with Ray Dennison Memorial Field which is adjacent to Dirks Field. Ironically, the Fort Lewis men use to play at Ray Dennison Memorial Field, home of football, from 1991 to 1997.
 
SCOUTING COLORADO MESA
Colorado Mesa will host South Dakota Mines on Friday before welcoming the Orediggers to Grand Junction on Sunday. The Mavericks are fresh off a 1-0 win over Dixie State, but are just 2-2-1 in their last five matches. Even so, CMU is 8-3-2 overall and 6-2-2 in conference play needing just two wins to overtake Mines in the conference standings. Lawan Abary is the Mavericks' top scorer with four goals on 26 shots. Ramses Atahualpa is tops on the team with four assists. Brendan Brown handles a majority of the goalkeeping duties with a resume of 41 saves and a 0.72 goals-against average.
 
FUN COW FACTS
For those who may have forgotten, a quick review reminds us that a maverick – Colorado Mesa's athletics nickname and mascot – is an unbranded calf or yearling – a cow. We'll ignore the gross inaccuracies between the Mavericks' logo and actual definition of their name and move right into fun cow facts. While America is (somewhat) historically known for its red-meat eating, carnivorous ways, the U.S.A. does not actually have the most cows. As of 2016, India had the largest cattle inventory on the planet followed by Brazil and then China. There are over 800 different cattle breeds and none of them eat meat – ever. Possibly the most interesting fact about cows is they can see almost 360 degrees – allowing them to watch for predators from all angles. Ironically, they don't see so well straight in front of them. Cows can detect odors of to six miles away and don't like to be alone. Bovine have 32 teeth but no upper front teeth. All that being said, the author never imagined writing nearly 200 words about cows, but here we are.
 
WALKER FIELD
The Colorado Mesa men's soccer, women's soccer, men's lacrosse and women's lacrosse all play their home contests at Walker Field. Opened in 2006, the facility started the expansion of CMU athletic facilities. There is a capacity for 700 fans and the sports turf surface was refurbished in 2013. The artificial surface includes irrigation for cooling the turf while there is also an enclosed press box for media and a filming platform on top. Additionally, the field has lights and a scoreboard.
 
SERIES HISTORY
Mines is 20-29-8 in the all-time series against Fort Lewis. This weekend marks the Orediggers' first showdown against the Skyhawks in 2019. Mines last faced Fort Lewis on Oct. 21, 2018 at Stermole Stadium in a 3-1 victory for the home team. The last time the Orediggers traveled to Durango, Colo., was Oct. 22, 2017 when Mines won a 2-1 overtime thriller. The Orediggers have not lost to Fort Lewis since Oct. 23, 2016 – a 1-0 defeat in Durango. Against Colorado Mesa, Mines boasts an all-time record of 18-5-1. This weekend also marks the first meeting between CMU and the Orediggers in 2019. The two teams most recently met in the 2018 RMAC Tournament Championship game. It was a contest Mines hosted and won by a margin of 2-0. The Orediggers' last trip to Grand Junction was Oct. 15, 2017. The Mavericks were ranked #6 and succumbed to the visitors by a score of 2-1. Mines' last loss to Colorado mesa was Oct. 7, 2016 in Grand Junction.
 
RMAC GOALKEEPER OF THE WEEK
Drew Johnson was named the RMAC Goalkeeper of the Week for the second time this season on Tuesday after his 2-0-0 homecoming weekend. Johnson claimed the fourth weekly honor of his career after posting two shutouts to keep Mines at #1 in the RMAC Standings. The Elm Grove, Wisc., native faced 11 shots and made five saves over the weekend. Four of those saves came in a 2-0 victory over MSU Denver on Friday and he made one more save in a 2-0 win over Colorado Christian on Sunday. Johnson now has eight shutouts this season and 18 in his career which ranks #7 all-time in RMAC history and #3 at Mines.
 
STILL STREAKING
Mines is the proud owner of two active unbeaten streaks. The Orediggers are currently riding a 10-match run without a loss in 2019. However, to put that in perspective, Mines' longest stretch without a loss is 21 games which was set in 2015. In the bigger picture, the Orediggers also boast a 34-match streak without a loss in RMAC play. That mark is the longest, active streak of its kind in all of NCAA Division II and second-longest across all divisions. It also ranks #3 all-time in DII. Mines' last lost to a RMAC opponent came on Oct. 1, 2017 in a 1-0 defeat against MSU Denver at Stermole Stadium.
 
THESE DATES IN HISTORY
The last time Mines' men played on Oct. 25 and Oct. 27 was actually last season. On Oct. 25, 2018, the Orediggers celebrated Senior Day with a 5-1 win over South Dakota Mines at Stermole Stadium. Ryan Wilson, John Haist and Baptiste Debuire all scored with Haist, Julian Kehe, Talon Stanley, Ben Overholt, Lucas King and Matthew Summerfield contributing assists. On Oct. 27, 2018, Mines completed an undefeated RMAC regular season with its 2-0 win at Regis. John Haist accounted for both goals in Drew Johnson's record-breaking ninth shutout of the season.
 
RMAC RUNDOWN
Four games remain in the 2019 regular season and the RMAC Tournament field is starting to shake out. While no team has even come close to clinching the #1 seed, Mines needs just one point (a draw) to clinch a berth in the tournament field. If the season were to end today, the Orediggers would be #1 and joined by Westminster at #2 with first-round byes. Third-seeded Regis would host #6 CSU-Pueblo by virtue of tiebreakers while Colorado Mesa would claim the #4 seed and host Fort Lewis as the #5 in the other quarterfinal matchup. All that being said, just six points separate the top four teams and blunder by anyone could shake up the entire field.
 
LOOKING AHEAD
After its trip out west, Mines enters the final weekend of regular-season play with a trip to South Dakota Mines on Friday, Nov. 1, followed by a showdown at Stermole Stadium against Regis on Nov. 3. Live video and stats of both matches will be available at www.minesathletics.com.
 
Fans can keep up with Colorado School of Mines Athletics all year long on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram using the handle @MinesAthletics. Men's soccer is also on Twitter under the handle @MinesMSOC.