By: Tim Flynn
OREDIGGERS END REGULAR SEASON WITH TWO PIVOTAL MATCHES
The regular season comes down to two huge matches for #21 Colorado School of Mines, first hosting fellow title contender CSU Pueblo on Sunday before ending the regular season Wednesday at Regis. The Orediggers have already clinched a berth in the RMAC Tournament, but could claim the regular-season with two wins and some help from around the league.
LIVE COVERAGE
This weekend's matches, and every match this season, will be streamed live and for free
on the RMAC Network.
SENIOR DAY
Sunday will be Senior Day for five Orediggers playing their final regular-season home game: midfielders
Alegra Aguayo,
Emma Peterson,
Hannah Rowan, and
Zoe Sano, and goalkeeper
Sierra Roth. As a class they have an impressive 56-5-10 record overall and 36-2-3 in the RMAC over the last four seasons, qualifying for the 2018 and 2019 NCAA Championships, and winning the RMAC regular-season title in 2018 and RMAC Tournament in 2018 and 2019.Â
THE RMAC CHAMPIONSHIP HUNT
The final week of the regular season is one of the most dramatic in recent memory as five teams still have a mathematical shot at winning the regular-season title. Mines and CSU Pueblo are currently tied atop the table at 25 points with each having two matches left, but it's Colorado Mesa, tied for second with UCCS and Regis on 24points, that controls its own destiny as the Mavs still have a game in hand on the other four teams. Mines needs to win both matches this week, and then hope CMU drops one of its final three, to claim the regular-season crown.Â
IN THE POLLS
Despite going 2-0 and outscoring opponents 7-0 last weekend, Mines dropped from #18 to #21 in this week's United Soccer Coaches' poll. More important, however, was the first release of the NCAA Regional Rankings, which has the Orediggers #3 in the South Central region with the top six making the NCAA Tournament. DBU tops the list followed by Colorado Mesa, Mines, UCCS, Texas Woman's, and Westminster.
LAST WEEK REWIND
Mines had little trouble in their road trip last weekend, dispatching Fort Lewis 3-0 and Western Colorado 4-0.
Emma Peterson,
Reese McDermott, and
Ellise Putnam scored at FLC as Mines led 18-7 on shots, and the Orediggers then dominated the Mountaineers 27-3 on chances with goals by
Emi Higgins,
Laura Butler, and Peterson as well as an own goal.Â
LEADING THE WAY
After freshmen
Ellise Putnam and
Laura Butler notched their first collegiate goals last week, Mines has had 13 different goal scorers this season led
Reese McDermott (5 goals),
Emma Peterson (4), and
Emi Higgins (4).
Landry Corbett leads the team with four assists as Peterson has contributed three.
ON A ROLL
Emi Higgins has been on a tear over the last three weeks, scoring four goals and an assist over her last five matches. Higgins is currently on a five-match point streak, the longest of her career and the 10th different player in program history to do so.
SHUT IT DOWN
Mines enters the weekend with the RMAC's best defense at 0.50 goals per game allowed, led by the goalkeeper
Sierra Roth, who tops the league in virtually every metric including GAA (0.49), save percentage (.895), and shutouts (7). The Mines backline of
Ava Harman,
Jordan Barnhart,
Katie Koehler, and
Karolina Sidebaeck is limiting opponents to 11.1 shots and 5 shots on goal per game.
SENIOR DAY STREAK
The Orediggers have an interesting streak going: a senior has scored on four consecutive Senior Days dating back to 2017. In the spring it was
Chaney Brugman, and looking back Brooke Stoermer and Haley Cole in 2017, Jennifer Kendall in 2018, and Giselle Sawaged in 2019 all scored on their Senior Days.
HOME SWEET HOME
The Orediggers hold a 17-match home unbeaten streak (12-0-3) at Stermole Stadium, including 6-0-1 this season. The run dates back to a win over MSU Denver on Oct. 20, 2019.Â
OREDIGGERS TOP ALL-ACADEMIC TEAMS
The RMAC announced its annual All-Academic teams on Tuesday and the Orediggers topped the list with 21 total honorees including first-team selections
Katie Koehler,
Emma Peterson, and
Sierra Roth. In addition,
Dani vonLembke,
Brooke Pennington,
Ava Harman,
Michelle Easley,
Cloey Seltzer,
Emma Carstens,
AK Ford,
Hannah Rowan,
Kate Clady,
Zoe Sano,
Brooke Patterson,
Colleen Tyrrell,
Landry Corbett,
Gracey Henoch,
Alegra Aguayo,
Lauren Sherburne,
Meg Zimmerman, and
Karolina Sidebaeck were named to the Academic Honor Roll.
SCOUTING CSU PUEBLO
The Thunderwolves enter the final week with the same championship scenario as Mines, needing two wins and a Colorado Mesa loss to win the regular-season crown. CSUP is 8-1-1 in RMAC play and 9-5-1 overall, having won three straight since losing to Regis on Oct. 14. They score 1.8 goals per game led by Faith Meredith and Madison Jepperson, who each have five scores this year, Meredith is the leading playmaker with five assists as well. Nicole Genis has a 1.26 GAA and .746 save percentage in goal. CSUP ends the season at Mines Sunday and at UCCS on Wednesday. All-time, Mines is 15-8-4 against the Thunderwolves; their last meeting was a scoreless draw in the spring RMAC Tournament semifinals which CSUP advanced out of on PKs. They also drew in the spring regular season 1-1 on goals by
Chaney Brugman and Litzy Serna.
SCOUTING REGIS
Regis is 11-5 overall and 8-3-0 in RMAC play, battling for a top-four seed in the RMAC Tournament after falling 3-2 to UCCS in overtime on Thursday despite battling back from 2-0 down. The Rangers score a ton of goals, averaging 2.75 per game, led by the RMAC's second-leading scorer Kelby Kuo's 11 goals. Audrey Teague has added seven strikes while both Kuo and Sarah Wynn have handed out nine assists. Defensively, Katelyn Martin has a 1.56 GAA and .716 save percentage. Mines is 18-8-2 all-time against their local rivals, who last met in a 1-1 non-conference draw on March 1, 2021;
Eliot Edwards and Teague scored in that match. Mines has not lost in the last eight meetings.
LOOKING AHEAD
Mines will play in an RMAC Tournament quarterfinal on Sunday, Nov. 7 at a time and location to be determined after regular-season play ends Wednesday.
