PUEBLO, Colo. – On the road for the final time in the 2022 regular season, the #10 Colorado School of Mines women's soccer team took to the pitch at Art & Lorraine Gonzales Stadium Sunday afternoon in the penultimate Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference match of the season against CSU Pueblo. The Orediggers (12-1-3, 9-0-2) scored a pair of goals in each half and controlled the action for most of the contest, cruising past the ThunderWolves (5-10-2, 4-5-2) by a final score of 4-0.
 
It didn't take long for the Orediggers to get the afternoon started with a bang. In just the 11th minute, a turnover by the ThunderWolves deep in their own end allowed Reese McDermott to gain possession and after playing a little back-and-forth with Landry Corbett, charged hard into the box and fired a shot past a CSUP defender and to the left of keeper Nicole Genis for her 10th goal of the season take the early 1-0 lead.
 
CSUP tried to respond in the minutes following the resumption of play, but a try from Ashley Bennett missed wide right. Laura Butler looked to double the lead in the 25th minute, but this time Genis was able to make the save as Mines continued to maintain control of the action and apply pressure to the Pueblo defense.
 
Following two more tries from McDermott and one from Afton Rasco around the midway mark of the first half, Mines found the back of the net once more, this time in the 33rd minute when Butler played a cross from the far side of the field across the face of the goal back out to the top of the box to a charging Paola Rubi, who sent a right-footed try through a high-traffic area in front of goal to find the lower right corner to make it a 2-0 contest.
 
Not letting their foot off the gas, the Orediggers continued to put up shots in the final minutes of the period, testing newly entered keeper Breanna Encinas as Cloey Seltzer, Brooke Pennington and Rubi combined for four shots before the half, but none found their mark as after 45 minutes it remained a 2-0 contest with the Orediggers having outshot the ThunderWolves 13-2 in the opening period.
 
As the second half opened, Mines continued to push home the attack in their offensive third, as McDermott, Ava Harman Afton Rasco and Lauren Clingman put up shot after shot against the defense and Encinas, looking to increase the advantage to three but not having success as two shots were saved while a third caromed off the crossbar to keep it a two-goal game for the moment.
 
In the 65th minute, McDermott struck again as a disruption caused by Harman resulted in a turnover that saw Colleen Tyrrell come away with possession. She then played the ball ahead to McDermott who did the rest, spinning to her left before pulling up from about 25 yards away with a rocket into the upper right corner over the reach of the Encinas for her second goal of the day to make it 3-0.
 
It wasn't long after the action resumed that Katie Koehler got in on the action in the 71st minute, when she played a cross into the box from Tyrrell with her left foot to slide a shot pas the dive of the keeper to make it a 4-0 lead for Mines.
 
Over the final 20 minutes, the Orediggers went to the bench to get fresh legs into the game to maintain the four-goal lead and keep CSUP off the board as the defensive unit held the home team to just one shot in the second half and didn't allow an attempt over the final 27 minutes of action, going on to claim the 4-0 win.
 
NOTABLES
-McDermott returned to the lineup to record her third multi-goal match of the season and second in the last three matches she has played; she is now just one of two played in the RMAC with double digit goals this season with 11, trailing only Lila Dere of Colorado Mesa and becomes the first Mines player since Nicole LaTourette in 2019 to score 10 or more goals in a season
-Rubi's goal was her fourth of the season and first since September 25 against MSU Denver
-Butler added to her team-leading assists count with her sixth of the season and now has 16 points, good for fifth in the RMAC
-Tyrrell recorded her first two assist game of the season and her career as well and now has five assists in her career
-McDermott's name is now in the record books not even two full seasons into her Mines career; her 41 career points are now tied for ninth all-time with Jackie Knott (2013-16) and her 19 career goals are now seventh all-time, surpassing Knott and Haley Cole (2014-17)
-Wolf finished the match with a save as she and the defense posted the 11th shutout of 2022
-Mines scored at least four goals in a match for the third time this season, and doing so for the first time since opening weekend when they scored four and five goals respectively against Texas Woman's and Midwestern State
 
UP NEXT
Just one match remains for the #10 Orediggers in the regular season, as they'll return to Stermole Stadium Wednesday night for a 6 p.m. clash with Regis for the RMAC Regular Season Championship. Wednesday is also Senior night, as the six seniors on this year's team will be recognized in a ceremony prior to the start of the match.
 
Fans can keep up with Mines women's soccer on Twitter at @mineswsoc. They can also keep up with Colorado School of Mines Athletics all year long on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram using the handle @MinesAthletics.