GOLDEN, Colo. – Taking on a familiar foe for the second time this season, the Colorado School of Mines men's soccer team lined up opposite #3 CSU Pueblo Thursday evening at Stermole Stadium in a battle between two of the top teams in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference this season. The ThunderWolves (12-2-1, 6-0-1) scored early and managed to hold off a frenetic offensive attack by the Orediggers (9-4-2, 6-1-0) in the second half before adding second goal to move atop the conference standings with a 2-0 win.
 
CSUP struck first in the early moments of the match, as Mines tried to clear the ball deep in their defensive end, Aden O'Hara was able to gain possession and get space at the top of the six before going opposite corner past a diving try by Brian Doherty to give the visitors the early lead just four minutes in.
 
A try by Pueblo in the 11th minute looked to make it a two-score game early, but Doherty rebounded to tally his first save of the night. Mines had a trio of shots in quick succession beginning in the 22nd minute when Azad Iliozer and Joshua Kiyaga put boot to leather in an attempt to things up before Lucas King did so as well, but all three tries missed their mark as it remained 1-0.
 
Doherty collected two more saves in the period in the 29th and 32nd minutes as neither side managed to get too many opportunities on offense in the final 20 minutes of the period as it remained a one-goal game heading to the intermission.
 
Mines came out swinging to open the second half as King and Tristan Semelsberger both put shots on goal to test Nils Roth in the 50th minute before Quinn Collins fired a one-timer in the 53rd minute from the top of the six that looked to even things at 1-1 as Roth got caught out of position, but a desperation save by a member of the ThunderWolves' back line managed to get a leg on it to record a team save maintain the lead.
 
Despite the Orediggers applying the pressure on offense and playing stingy defense, CSUP doubled their lead in the 68th minute, when Matthew Coleman nearly ran out of room on the end line before playing the ball back into the box to Caio Oliveira who found the lower left corner past another diving save attempt to make it 2-0.
 
Now trailing by a pair with just over 20 minutes remaining, Gabriel Rodriguez, Quin Collins and John Burnett looked to get Mines on the board and back into contention with a flurry of shots in the 75th minute, but all three were either saved or off-target as the score held at 2-0.
 
With time winding down and a physical match growing ever more so with each passing moment, chance continued to be hard to come by as the Orediggers tried to mount another late rally. A 79th minute save by Doherty kept CSUP's lead at two, but Mines couldn't find a way to get a clean look through the defense, as a final minute volley from Chris Seery missed high before time expired with a final score of 2-0.
 
NOTABLES
-Mines finished the night with a 13-12 edge in shots, but trailed 7-5 in SOG
- Collins, King, Iliozer and Rodriguez all had two shots in the match
-Five different players put a shot on goal in the contest
-Doherty recorded four saves for the second match in a row, giving him an even 30 for the season
-The Orediggers are now in second place in the RMAC standings after the match and a draw earned by UCCS earlier Friday afternoon against CCU
 
UP NEXT
Mines will be back at home Sunday at 2:30 at Stermole Stadium against another Top-25 opponent when #17 UCCS comes to Golden.
 
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.