GOLDEN, Colo. – The Colorado School of Mines Men's Soccer team suffered a 2-1 loss at the hands of CSU Pueblo on Friday night at Stermole Stadium.
 
Tristan Semelsberger accounted for the Orediggers' lone tally in what proved to be his only shot attempt of the evening. Vaughn Simpson led Mines with four shots. Azad Iliozer and George Marchant both took three shots apiece. Iliozer put two of his attempts on goal. Kenneth Symmes (1-2-0) played all 90 minutes in goal and made one save while wearing the loss. Goal scorers for the visitors included Vinzent Zingel and Josua Hall while goalkeeper Garret Wild made five saves to earn the win.
 
Friday's match was a non-conference affair against a RMAC opponent. Mines (4-3-0) produced 20 shots and limited CSU Pueblo (6-1-0) to eight attempts. The Orediggers also put six of their shots on goal compared to three on frame from the ThunderWolves. However, Mines had no corner-kick opportunities in the first half and only three in the match while playing without veteran defenseman Patrick Allan. In total, six yellow cards were issued with five to "The Pack" and one to the Orediggers.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
Friday evening saw Mines' women set the table with a 3-0 victory over Adams State in the first half of the doubleheader. As the sun set and the Oredigger men took the field, fans found themselves watching two evenly matched sides through 43 minutes of action. However, a foul in the box in the 44th minute resulted in Mines' lone yellow card of the game and gave CSU Pueblo a penalty kick which it converted. Then, an early goal less than five minutes in to the second period provided the visitor's a 2-0 lead.
 
Semelsberger worked his own opportunity from the penalty spot and converted to cut the lead in half. His goal breathed life into a team that had just scored three goals in 13 minutes less than a week earlier to topple then #11 Seattle Pacific. But it was not to be. Four Oredigger shots in the final 10 minutes marked a final push, but none found the net and the final score was locked at 2-1.
 
NOTABLES
- Mines is 36-10-5 in the series against CSU Pueblo dating back to 1992.
- Friday marks the Orediggers' first lost to the ThunderWolves since Oct. 14, 2007. It also snaps a 13-game home winning streak and is the first loss to an RMAC opponent at Stermole Stadium since 2017.
- Semelsberger increased his team lead in goals with his fourth of the season and took over the lead in total points with eight. He owns 13 goals in his career at Mines.
- The last time the Orediggers started a season 4-3 was 2014 when they closed the season by winning the RMAC Tournament title on penalty kicks against UCCS.
- Head Coach Greg Mulholland now holds a career record of 60-13-7 at the helm.
 
WHAT'S NEXT
Mines heads to MSU Denver on Sunday for a 12 p.m. kickoff against the Roadrunners.  Live stats and video will be offered at www.minesathletics.com.
 
Fans can keep up with Mines men's soccer on Twitter at @MinesMSOC. They can also keep up with Colorado School of Mines Athletics all year long on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram using the handle @MinesAthletics.