DENVER, Colo. – Making the short trip to Denver for the second Sunday in a row, the Colorado School of Mines men's soccer team continued their Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference slate against Regis. The Orediggers (9-3-2, 6-0-0) struck first in the early minutes of the match before adding another goal in the closing moments, as they continued to stand tall atop the RMAC standings, downing the Rangers (4-8-2, 1-3-2) by a score of 2-0.
Despite Regis getting the first shot of the day and testing
Brian Doherty in the opening moments, it was Mines who posted the first tally of the game. The opening goal of the afternoon came in the sixth minute of play, as Friday's hero
Michael Sprauer picked up right where he left off, scoring on a ball from
Chris Seery following a free kick to make it 1-0 Mines.
A try at the equalizer from the Rangers in the 25th minute by Kristian Hooker looked on target, but caromed off the left woodwork as it remained a one-goal game.
Caelin David had ambitions of making it 2-0 in the 35th minute, as a cross to him the top of the box was turned around for a shot attempt, but it was knocked away this time by keeper Luca Falagrady, who made another save moments later on a try from
Josef Emge to keep the Regis deficit at one as the first half came to close with the Rangers holding a 7-6 edge on the shot chart.
As the second half resumed, the two sides traded shots in the opening minutes, with Regis' Ethan Wilson and Mines'
Quin Collins both missing high over goal before the Rangers' Rayhan Carlson-Du Toit tired to find the upper left corner of goal from the near side of the box, but his shot connected with the crossbar before sailing away harmlessly.
The Rangers continued to push the pace and be aggressive in their offensive zone, as another shot attempt was saved by the Orediggers' defense before the fourth shot of the period again missed high over goal. A 67th minute volley from Vilhjamur Kaldal looked to try and even the score at 1-1, but again Doherty was up to the task as he made the save to preserve to Mines lead.
Tristan Semelsberger, coming off the bench for the first time this season, had a look to double the lead in the 75th minute before another shot from Kadal looked again to tie the match but Doherty once again made the save to deny him once more before Matteo Colombo put a shot on goal that saw the Seattle native record his fourth save of the day.
As the match entered its final moments, both keepers continued to be tested, as Semelsberger and Sprauer looked to add a Mines insurance goal while Carlson-Du Toit tried to get the Rangers on the board but both keepers continued to make save after save until the 88th minute. A
Lucas King free kick into the box was headed up in the air by a Regis defender, but Seery was waiting for it on the way down, as he chipped one in from short range to make the score 2-0 and put things all but out of reach as the Orediggers collected their sixth RMAC win of the season.
NOTABLES
-Sprauer's goal was his fifth of the season, as he has now scored a goal in back-to-back matches for the first time in his Mines career
-Seery also scored for the second match in a row and has now either scored or assisted on a goal to record a point in seven consecutive matches
-Doherty logged four saves in the match, his second highest save count of the season and most in a match since September 15 of last month as he recorded his fifth shutout of the season
-The Orediggers have now scored first in nine of 14 matches this season
-Mines has now won seven matches in row and outscored their opponents 23-4 in that span
UP NEXT
Just four matches remain in the regular season for the Orediggers, three of which will be played at Stermole Stadium beginning Thursday October 13 at 5 p.m. in a rematch with #7 CSU Pueblo followed by a match with UCCS Sunday October 16 at 2:30 p.m.
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.
