#16 Mines (0-0-0) at St. Edward's (0-0-0) – Friday, 3 p.m. (CT) – Austin, Texas [Live Stats] [Live Video]
#16 Mines (0-0-0) at St. Mary's (0-0-0) – Sunday, 1 p.m. (CT) – San Antonio, Texas [Live Stats] [Live Video]
 

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SO IT BEGINS
The #16-ranked Colorado School of Mines Men's Soccer team opens its 2019 campaign this weekend with South Central Regional matchups against St. Edward's and St. Mary's. Mines travels to the Lone Star State as the defending RMAC regular-season and tournament champions fresh off a second straight trip to the NCAA Tournament. Friday and Sunday mark a rematch of last year's season openers when both St. Edward's and St. Mary's came to Golden. A pair of wins in the regional showdowns would prove massively beneficial for the Orediggers' plan to return to the postseason.
 
WEATHER REPORT
If you guessed hot a humid conditions for both Friday and Sunday, you were absolutely correct. Austin's high temperature on Friday is predicted to be 101 degrees with a game-time temp of 98 degrees and 30 percent humidity. Sunday's match in San Antonio brings a "cool down" of sorts with a high of 99 degrees and kickoff feel of 95 degrees. Sunscreen, water and a hat will be key for fans in attendance. An umbrella to protect from the sun also wouldn't hurt, but don't bank on any rain as the chance for precipitation sits at an unsurprising 2%.
 
LIVE VIDEO AND THE RMAC NETWORK
Friday's and Sunday's matches will both be live streamed on the newly formed Lone Star Network which is linked above and on the men's soccer schedule page at www.minesathletics.com. Additionally, 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".
 
LOOKING BACK
Mines' head coach Greg Mulholland led the Orediggers to another banner year in 2018. The squad went 18-2-1 overall while going undefeated in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference action at 13-0-1. The Orediggers swept the regular-season and conference tournament crowns, capped by a 2-0 victory over Colorado Mesa in the RMAC Tournament Championship match. The team broke or tied 10 different program records including 12 straight wins and a shutout streak that stretched over seven matches and more than 540 minutes of action. John Haist and Jason Zobott were both crowned All-America while Zobott was also named RMAC Defensive Player of the Year. Additionally, Haist broke numerous program records and closed his career running away as the NCAA's active leading scorer with 65 goals and 146 points. The next closest career scorer had just 46 goals and 121 points.
 
SCOUTING ST. EDWARD'S
The St. Edward's University Men's Soccer team is coached by Brian Young who is entering his 16th season at the helm. Young has built the Hilltoppers into a perennial powerhouse in the region and across the nation. However, SEU is coming off somewhat of a down year in which the men went 8-9-1 (7-6-1 Heartland) and failed to make the NCAA Tournament for the first time in five years. That being said, St. Edward's is never a team to look past. The Hilltoppers' roster features 23 returners including four seniors. Among the returners are 2018 all-conference performers Jeremy Bischoff and Cody Spitzer. Coach Young lost leading scorer Dylan Armstrong who notched nine goals and seven assists as a senior in 2018, but returns 64 percent of his offense (16 goals). George Murray and Kieran Furse are the leading returners with a total of seven goals and one assist between the two. Fans should also keep an eye out for craft vets Parker Fyfe, Ruben Gonzalez and Matthew Parker. As a team, St. Edward's was predicted to finish #3 in the Lone Star's preseason poll, but enters the season unranked in the national standings.
 
LEWIS-CHEN FAMILY FIELD
Friday's meeting between Mines and St. Edward's will be contested on Lewis-Chen Family Field which is the home pitch for the Hilltoppers. Located on the north side of campus, the venue affords quality views of downtown Austin. The surface is natural Bermuda grass and the seating is made up of metal bleachers and a berm across the south side of the field. Its name comes from the Lewis-Chen families who provided generous donations to the university which led to the renaming in 2011. Lewis-Chen Family Field has hosted multiple NCAA South Central Regional Tournaments and conference tournaments. Most notable among those events is the second round of the 2017 NCAA South Central Regional Tournament in which the Orediggers advanced past the Hilltoppers on penalty kicks in a double-overtime shutout. Mines' advancement required seven rounds of penalty kicks which was capped by a successful attempt from Matthew Summerfield and a stop by goalkeeper Josh Clark.
 
WHAT'S A HILLTOPPER?
St. Edward's University uses the Hilltoppers nickname for its athletics programs. The institutions mascot is a mountain goat. While there are no mountains in the Austin, Texas, area, the nickname originates from the school's location which is atop a hill overlooking downtown and Lady Bird Lake. A mountain goat, also known as the Rocky Mountain goat (insert more irony here), is a large hoofed mammal. It is defined also as a sure-footed climber commonly seen on cliffs and ice – neither of which are common in Texas. The only justifiable reason for using a nickname/mascot related to rocks and hills is the nearby Texas Hill Country which draws many for camping, hiking, and water sports on Lake Travis. However, it's still a stretch as to how appropriate Hilltoppers may be for a team in central Texas.
 
SCOUTING ST. MARY'S
The St. Mary's University Men's Soccer team had somewhat of a breakout year in 2018 as the Rattlers entered the national rankings for the first time in program history. The program finished the year 10-5-3 (8-4-2 Heartland) but faltered at the end with back-to-back losses and missed the NCAA Tournament. Rattlers' head coach Johnny Clifford enters his second season at the helm with his team projected to finish #4 in the Lone Star in 2019. Clifford returns top assists getter Nenad Markovic who also was second on the team in scoring with five goals. Marokovic along with Ollie Wright and Luis Sanchez were the only individuals to play in every match in 2018. However, St. Mary's will have to deal with the graduation of 2018 Heartland Conference Player of the Year and All-American Pato Botello Faz who racked up 18 goals and six assists as a senior.
 
SIGMA BETA CHI FIELD
St. Mary's men's and women's soccer programs play all of their home matches at Sigma Beta Chi Field. The venue was opened in 2013 thanks to a generous gift from Sigma Beta Chi fraternity which raised nearly $250,000 for the facility. Boasted as a FIFA regulation-size field, the facility also features bleachers and lights with a natural grass surface. It is located in the heart of St. Mary's campus in northwest San Antonio, Texas. However, the views do not match those of SEU's Lewis-Chen Family Field. There is not much cover for fans so those planning to attend should plan accordingly for a hot and humid afternoon game.
 
STRANGE LOOKING SNAKE
St. Mary's uses the nickname Rattlers in reference to rattlesnakes and its mascot is Rattler Man. Both Rattler Man and the athletics logo feature a somewhat fierce rattler head with fangs, but colored completely blue. While the author of this understands matching school colors and branding, he's just not sure if blue rattlesnakes actually exist. However, they are common and native all across all of Texas, so that seems acceptable enough. St. Mary's athletics website provides some history on the nickname and mascot which goes back to the 1920's. The mascot Rattler Man was not actually created until the 1990's thanks to a student's sketch which was described as a "saintly superhero." In the 1960's, St. Mary's student Don Ganter actually brought live snakes to events on campus. For the Mines crowd more grounded in science and facts, rattlesnakes are a group of venomous snakes of the genera Crotalus and Sisturus (not fully sure what either of those mean, but thanks Wikipedia). Classified as predators and carnivores, rattlers can range up to eight feet in length and actually have thermal receptors used for detection of warm-blooded creatures. So that's pretty cool. One last fun fact is that rattlesnakes also locate prey using their tongue which collects scent molecules from the air. The end.
 
BATTLING THE SAINTS
Mines' ongoing battle with the "saints" is one of varying history. For example, the Orediggers and Hilltoppers will meet for the 19th time this weekend in a series that dates back to 1999. Mines happens to lead that all-time series with nine wins, five losses and four draws. The two teams last met in the 2018 season opener in Golden. The Orediggers dominated that match in a 2-0 victory. On the other hand, Mines' history dates back to 2000, but only features three meetings with the fourth coming this Sunday. The Orediggers trail that series 1-2 after last year's 4-2 loss in Golden. Individually, Ben Overholt accounted for one of the goals against St. Edward's last year and also assisted on the second. Tristan Semelsberger notched the first goal of his collegiate career against St. Mary's in 2018 thanks to an assist from Ford Edwards while Jason Zobott kicked in an assist on the second with Matthew Summerfield on the scoring end.
 
HOSTILE TAKEOVER
Both St. Edward's and St. Mary's are some of the newest members of the new-look Lone Star Conference. However, the saintly duo came into NCAA Division II as founding members of the now defunct Heartland Conference. What happened to the Heartland Conference you ask? Well, as of this academic year (2019-20), it merged with the LSC in a somewhat hostile takeover as the new conference grew to 19 teams which is the largest conference in all of NCAA Division II. The men's soccer side is relatively unaffected as the programs from both conferences were already playing under the Heartland banner.  That being said, the initial conversations and foray were not so smooth. Multiple programs were nearly left without a conference and some of the schools did not make the transition including Newman and Rogers State. At the same of time, the University Texas at Tyler transitioned into DII and joined as the 19th program. The makeup overall is interesting with a mix of football and non-football schools along with public and private insitutions. Additionally the geography is intriguing at best with nearly a 1,000-mile width from Fort Smith, Ark., to Silver City, N.M., and a height over 600 miles from Laredo, Texas, to Oklahoma City. And we thought the Big 12 had it bad.
 
FAMILIAR FACES
Jason Zobott and Ford Edwards were tabbed as players to watch as part of the RMAC's preseason release. Zobott is a returning All-American defender and the 2018 RMAC Defensive Player of the Year. Edwards returns in the midfield after starting all 21 games for the Orediggers last season while scoring three goals with five assists and earning Second-Team All-RMAC honors. However, those are not the only players to watch on Mines' roster. Ben Overholt brings back five goals and six assists after finishing second on the team in scoring in 2018. Additionally, Drew Johnson comes back in goal following an 18-21 record with 10 shutouts on 64 saves and a 0.72 goals-against average last season. In total, the Orediggers return eight starters including Lucas King, Talon Stanley, Ryan Wilson and Patrick Allan along with the previously mentioned quartet.
 
TEXAS TIES
This weekend will serve as a homecoming of sorts for five different Orediggers on Mines' roster. Eric Boone, Trevor Lattimer, Anthony Garcia, Alejandro Snyder-Perez and Ryan Mackey all hail from the Lone Star State. Boone paid his prep dues at Everman Joe C. Bean High School and calls Crowley, Texas, home while playing his club ball for FC Dallas Premier. Lattimer came to Golden from Humble, Texas where he competed for Kingwood Park High School and for the Houston Dynamo club. Anthony Garcia is a true freshman straight out of Mesquite, Texas where he was part of Mesquite High School and Sporting United SC. Alejandro Snyder-Perez is another true freshman hailing from Houston, Texas, as a graduate of Strake Jesuit Prep and an alum of Houston FC. Redshirt junior Ryan Mackey joined the Orediggers out of Parker, Texas, where he played at John Paul II High School and Liverpool FC America.
 
POTENTIALLY OFFENSIVE
Nothing rude to see here. However, after graduating John Haist who closed his career as the active leading scorer in all of NCAA Division II, Mines will have some questions to answer on offense. That being said, there is plenty of potential. Ben Overholt (5), Lucas King (4), Tristan Semelsberger (4), Ford Edwards (3), Baptiste Debuire (2) and Connor van Loveren (2) all scored multiple goals in 2018. King, Semelsberger and DeBuire all accomplished that feat in their first season of action. Additionally, Overholt (6), King (5), Edwards (5), Talon Stanley (4), Semelsberger (2) and Patrick Allan (2) all bring back multiple assists. None of those numbers include the scoring threat from Ryan Wilson and Jason Zobott from the back. Based on the plethora of talent and scoring returning to the squad, fans can certainly look for scoring by committee at the top.
 
DEFENSE WINS CHAMPIONSHIPS
If that phrase holds true, Mines is sitting in a great position. The Orediggers return every single defender from last season including All-American Jason Zobott, all-region outside back Ryan Wilson and all-region goalkeeper Drew Johnson. That core, along with Patrick Allan put together a record-setting shutout streak in 2018 and finished the season allowing just 15 goals at a rate of 0.71 goals per game with 11 total shutouts while limiting opponents to just 81 shots on goal for a shots-on-goal percentage of 36.8%. The only real question on defense for Mines is just how much better can this unit get?
 
RMAC PRESEASON POLL
Mines was selected #1 in the preseason coaches' poll released by the conference last month. The defending regular-season and tournament champion Orediggers received 10 of 12 first-place votes on the way to 120 points, 16 more than second-place Westminster (104) which also received one first-place vote. Colorado Mesa (103) slotted in at #3 in the poll while Regis (96) came in #4 with the last first-place vote. UCCS (72) and Fort Lewis (67) rounded out the top six and the projected tournament field.
 
NATIONAL PRESEASON TOP 25
It was already mentioned once, but head coach Greg Mulholland and the Orediggers will enter the 2019 season as the #16 team in all of NCAA Division II according to the United Soccer Coaches. Last season, the Orediggers entered the year ranked #8 in the nation and rose as high as #5, going 18-2-1 overall while boasting an undefeated RMAC mark of 13-0-1. Mines also won the RMAC regular-season and tournament titles and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. The 2019 preseason rankings mark the second straight season the Orediggers have entered their campaign with a national ranking and the third time in the last four years. Other notable programs in the preseason top 25 include West Texas A&M at #9, Midwestern State at #14 and Colorado Mesa at #17.
 
SCHEDULE AT A GLANCE
The Orediggers obviously open their 2019 slate in Texas at St. Edward's on Sept. 6 and St. Mary's on Sept. 8. Both foes are no stranger to the national rankings and mark dangerous opponents in the South Central Region. Mines plays its home opener on Sept. 13 against Seattle Pacific at 5:30 p.m. with Western Washington coming in Monday, Sept. 16. Then, Mines opens its RMAC portion of the schedule hosting South Dakota Mines and UCCS Sept. 20 and 22. MSU Denver on Oct. 6 and Oct. 18 represents an always dangerous opponent as does Westminster on Oct. 11. However, the biggest trip of the year may be Oct. 25 and 27 as the Orediggers head to Fort Lewis and nationally-ranked Colorado Mesa. While there is plenty of soccer to play before that, the league championship may well rest on that trip west.
 
LOOKING AHEAD
Mines' next action will be Sept. 13 and 16 against Seattle Pacific and Western Washington in the Orediggers' home openers at Stermole Stadium in Golden. Kickoff is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. for both matches with live stats and video available at www.minesathletics.com.