#9 (1) Mines (13-1-3, 10-0-2) vs. (8) CSU Pueblo (5-11-2, 4-6-2) – Sunday, 12 p.m. – Golden, Colo. [Live Stats] [RMAC Network]

---

WELCOME TO THE POSTSEASON
By virtue of their 2-0 win over Regis on Wednesday night, the Colorado School of Mines enters the postseason as the #1 seed in the 2022 RMAC Women's Soccer Tournament and claimed their sixth regular season title in program history. Their quest for a ninth tournament crown begins Sunday at Stermole Stadium with a rematch against last Sunday's opponent, CSU Pueblo.
 
LIVE COVERAGE
The match this weekend will be streamed free of charge on the RMAC Network and will have live stats through Sidearm.
 
AT THE HELM
Head Coach Kevin Fickes is in his 13th season leading the Mines women's soccer program, already the program's all-time leader in wins at 203-36-35. His .804 career win percentage is currently among the top-10 active NCAA Division II coaches, and Friday at CCU he became just the second RMAC coach to reach 200 career victories, joining current UCCS boss J.B. Belzer. Through 2021, Fickes has overseen 24 All-American selections, 12 Academic All-Americans, 63 all-conference honorees, and 19 RMAC major award winners while guiding Mines to five RMAC regular-season titles and eight RMAC Tournament trophies, with 12 consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances.
 
WELCOME TO THE 200 CLUB
As previously mentioned, head coach Kevin Fickes collected his 200th career win on October 6 when Mines defeated Colorado Christian in Lakewood 3-0 behind goals from Colleen Tyrrell and Reese McDermott. Fickes, who took over as head coach ahead of the 2010 season, has won no fewer than 11 games in a season during his tenure at Mines, notwithstanding the 2020-21 season played in the spring on account of CoVID-19. The Orediggers are poised for another double-digit win season again in 2022, currently having won nine times this season and sit just two points back of Regis for the top spot in the league as they pursue a sixth RMAC regular season crown.

WEARING THE ARMBAND
The Orediggers have selected Jordan Barnhart and Meg Zimmerman as their captains for the 2022 season. Barnhart is entering her third season as a starter at centerback and played more minutes than any other Oredigger last season in guiding a defense that had a 0.73 GAA. Zimmerman, a forward, is a fifth-year senior returning from an injury-shortened 2021 season that saw her score a goal in the season opener; she has five career goals and three assists.
 
WEEK NINE REVIEW
Mines closed out the regular season by facing the CSU Pueblo last Sunday on the road before returning to Golden to play host to Regis in the finale for the RMAC title. The Orediggers made quick work of the ThunderWolves, scoring twice in the first half before tacking on two more in the second and coasting to a 4-0 win and outshooting CSUP 22-3 in total and 8-1 in SOG. Reese McDermott scored twice while Colleen Tyrrell added a pair of assists, with Paola Rubi and Katie Koehler completing the balance of the scoring while Landry Corbett and Laura Butler each added an assist. It was the fourth time this season the Orediggers had at least six different players record a point in a match. Wednesday at Stermole against the Rangers, more first half scoring set the tone for the Orediggers early as McDermott cashed in on a second-chance goal shortly before Rubi fired a strike from the top of the box. Those two goals ended up being all Mines needed, knocking off Regis 2-0 behind the third straight shutout by the defense and Sadie Wolf and outshooting the Rangers 16-9 in total and 7-4 in SOG to claim the program's sixth RMAC regular season crown and first since 2018.
 
IN THE POLLS
The Orediggers were chosen atop the RMAC preseason coaches' poll announced earlier this season and maintained their standing at #9 in the United Soccer Coaches Division II Top-25 poll this week. It was a close race in the RMAC poll with Mines, UCCS, and Colorado Mesa all splitting the bulk of the first-place votes and just three points overall separating the three teams. One of Mines' previous opponents, Dallas Baptist, continues to remain in sole possession of first place in the poll, with UCCS cracking the Top 25 this week in the final spot in the polls while Seattle Pacific and Westminster are receiving votes. In the latest batch of regional rankings, Mines sits fourth in the South Central Region as the highest-ranked RMAC team and trail Dallas Baptist, West Texas A&M and Angelo State.
 
ON TRACK
This year's roster boasts not one, but two dual-sport athletes as both senior Amena Nelson and freshman Callie Fuhr will spend their winters and springs competing for the Mines track & field program. Nelson can rightly claim to be the RMAC's fastest woman on the track or the pitch, coming off a superb outdoor season that saw her win the RMAC 400m dash title and claim RMAC 4x400 gold both indoors and out. Fuhr is also a 400m runner as a four-time Colorado 5A state qualifier and two-time top-10 placer in the event.  

THEM'S THE RULES
NCAA soccer has implemented a major rule change this season with the elimination of overtime in the regular season, bringing college soccer more in line with the FIFA Laws of the Game. Any match that is tied at the 90-minute mark will now end that way. In the postseason, there will be overtime but no more golden goal; teams will play two full 10-minute extra periods regardless of any goals and if it is still tied, the advancing team will be decided on penalty kicks.
 
SCOUTING CSU PUEBLO
Last Sunday, the ThunderWolves saw a two-match winning streak snapped by the Orediggers, falling 4-0 at home before taking #25 UCCS to the brink in the regular season finale but ultimately coming up short 1-0. Prior to that, CSUP had recorded 2-1 and 4-1 wins over New Mexico Highlands and Colorado Christian. Entering the postseason as the #8 seed in the RMAC Tournament, the ThunderWolves rank tied for eighth in the league in scoring with 15 goals, lead by Faith Meredith with four, the only player on the team with multiple goals this season as 11 others have one goal each. Meredith is also one of four players with multiple assists this season, along with Katie Bean, Jacquelyn Kosegarten and Kia Comstock as each member of that quartet has two assists to their credit while five others have one. Both CSUP keepers saw action against Mines last Sunday, with Nicole Genis getting that start and playing just 36 minutes, giving up a pair of scores and recording a save in that span. For the season, she's started 14 of 15 matches and logged nearly 1,228 minutes and made 61 saves, the fifth-most in the RMAC, and recorded three shutouts while turning in a GAA of 1.61. Breanna Encinas played the final 54 minutes of action against the Orediggers Sunday, as she too surrendered two goals while making three saves. For the season, she has started four times in seven matches and logged 392 minutes and has a shutout while making 18 saves and posting a GAA of 2.07.
 
SERIES HISTORY
Sunday will be the 30th meeting of the ThunderWolves and Orediggers, with Mines leading the series 17-8-4. Last Sunday's match was the sixth win in the last eight meetings for Mines and third shutout in a tow. The last two times the teams met in the postseason was in the spring 2021 season, which saw the game end in a 0-0 draw before CSUP was able to advance to the championship match on penalty kicks 4-2. The last time the ThunderWolves won in the series was in Pueblo in 2016, while their last win in Golden came all the way back in 2007.
 
LOOKING AT THE STAT SHEET
Heading into the postseason, Reese McDermott leads the team in scoring with 12 goals and is the first Mines player since Nicole LaTourette to score 10 or more times in a season. Paola Rubi scored her fifth goal of the season Wednesday and joins Laura Butler and Afton Rasco for second on the team with five, while Katie Koehler and Jordan Barnhart have two each. Butler leads the team with six assists while Landry Corbett has four, followed by the trio of Colleen Tyrrell, Barnhart and Rasco with three. In all, 14 Orediggers have assisted on goals while 11 have found the net this season. In goal, Sadie Wolf continues her strong play and now has five shutouts on the season while recording 16 saves and a GAA of 0.43 while clocking a save percentage of 0.842 in 630 minutes. Emma Carstens still leads the team with 20 saves and also has five shutouts in 791 minutes in nine matches and has a GAA of 0.91.
 
CLIMBING THE RANKS
Not even two full seasons into her time as an Oredigger, Reese McDermott has penned her name into the record books when it comes to career marks; her 20 career goals are now seventh all-time and just one behind Brooke Stoermer (2014-17). In addition, her 43 points are now ninth all-time, surpassing Danielle Hering (2009-12) and Jackie Knott (2013-16) and trailing Haley Cole (2014-17) by just three. Her seven game-winning goals are tied for sixth in program history with Erin Onat (2008-11) and Caitlin Kaltenbaugh (2013-16). McDermott is also just one goal away from tying Kayla Mitchell (2007) and Anna Evans (2011) for the fifth-most goals in a season at 13. When it comes to shutouts, Emma Carstens and Sadie Wolf now each have five in their careers and are tied with Marissa Burton (2005-06) in that category, trailing Penny Rogers (2008-11) by two.
 
LOOKING AHEAD
Should the Orediggers advance, they will host a semifinal match next Wednesday October 2 at 6 p.m. If Mines advances to the RMAC Tournament Final, that match will be held Saturday afternoon November 5 at 12 p.m. at Stermole Stadium.
 
Fans are reminded that there is no passlist for the postseason. All students with a valid ID card will be admitted free of charge to all matches. All matches will be streamed on the RMAC Network. Tickets and additional tournament information can be found here.
 
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