2021 RMAC Tournament Semifinals
#20 Mines at #9 UCCS, Wednesday, 5 p.m. [Live Video] [Live Stats]

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SURVIVE AND ADVANCE
After a dramatic penalty-kick shootout to advance out of the quarterfinals against Westminster, third-seeded and #20-ranked Colorado School of Mines heads to Colorado Springs to take on second-seeded and #9-ranked UCCS in Wednesday's semifinal round. The winner will advance to this Sunday's final. 

LIVE COVERAGE
The match will be streamed live on UCCS' YouTube page.

FAN INFORMATION
Fans are reminded that there is no passlist for postseason play and tickets are needed for all spectators. Tickets are $10 for adults, $5 for students, and $3 for seniors with cash-only sales at the gate. 

THE BRACKET
In the quarterfinals, Mines drew 2-2 with Westminster and advanced 3-0 on penalties (more on that in a moment), while UCCS used Ella Fischer's 67th-minute goal to advance over MSU Denver 1-0. On the other side of the bracket, Colorado Mesa defeated Fort Lewis 1-0, and Regis routed CSU Pueblo 4-1. CMU and Regis kick off their semifinal Wednesday at 6 p.m. in Grand Junction.

QUARTERFINAL RECAP
Mines advanced past Westminster on penalty kicks after an enthralling 2-2 quarterfinal draw at Stermole Stadium on Sunday. Westminster twice came back from deficits as Reese McDermott opened the scoring in the 11th minute before Alexa Maple leveled in the 23rd; in the second half, Jordan Barnhart's goal off Colleen Tyrrell's free kick put Mines ahead in the 65th minute but the Griffins found an 84th-minute equalizer thanks to Sage Stott. In PKs, Barnhart, Tyrrell, and Eliot Edwards made their takes for Mines while Westminster missed all three of their chances as Roth had a save and the Griffins were off target on two more. Roth had eight saves overall and Karolina Sidebaeck had a defensive stop. 

MINES IN THE RMAC TOURNAMENT
Mines is making its 15th consecutive appearance in the RMAC Tournament and has been the league's dominant team in the last decade, winning titles in 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, and 2019. The Orediggers are 22-5-4 all-time in the tournament. Mines and UCCS are very familiar with each other in postseason play as this will be a rematch of the 2019 RMAC Tournament final, which Mines won 2-0 at UCCS on goals by Chaney Brugman and Eliot Edwards; the two also met in the 2018 final won 3-0 by Mines in Golden. Mines owns a 2-1 advantage over UCCS in the RMAC Tournament all-time.

IN THE POLLS
Mines stayed at #20 in this week's United Soccer Coaches' Top 25 while UCCS moved up to #9. The Orediggers will be eyeing Wednesday's release of the latest NCAA regional rankings, where they were second last week. 

ROTH, MCDERMOTT HIGHLIGHT ALL-RMAC TEAMS
Goalkeeper of the Year Sierra Roth and Freshman of the Year Reese McDermott highlighted the 2021 All-RMAC Women's Soccer teams announced Tuesday. Both Roth and McDermott earned First-Team All-RMAC spots at goalkeeper and forward, respectively, while midfielder Emma Peterson and defender Ava Harman were Second-Team All-RMAC, and midfielder Zoe Sano was Honorable Mention All-RMAC. Roth is Mines' fifth-ever goalkeeper of the year and first since Shannon Mooney in 2019, leading the RMAC in every statistical category including goals-against average (0.56), save perentage (.882), and shutouts (8). McDermott joins Laya Rybicki (2014) and Anna Evans (2010) as only the third freshman of the year for the Orediggers after scoring a team-best eight goals with two assists this season. 

OREDIGGERS TOP ALL-ACADEMIC TEAMS
The RMAC announced its annual All-Academic teams last week 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.

IN THE REGULAR SEASON
Two late goals helped Mines stun then-#7 UCCS 2-1 in Golden back on Oct. 17. Emi Higgins and Landry Corbett scored less than a minute apart in the 78th and 79th minutes, and UCCS' late goal by Sydney Lasater wasn't enough to catch up. UCCS led 15-14 on shots but Sierra Roth made six saves and Jordan Barnhart cleared another off the line to limit the visitors to the single goal. 

SCOUTING UCCS
Like Mines, UCCS had a tough quarterfinal draw against MSU Denver, winning 1-0 on a 67th-minute goal by Ella Fischer despite being outshot 14-10. Alexis Walker made four saves in the shutout. The Mountain Lions are 16-3-0 overall and were co-regular-season champions in the RMAC; Tarah Patterson leads them offensively with seven goals and 11 assists while Makayla Merlo has eight goals this season for the RMAC's #1 offense at 2.95 goals per game.