#14 (5) Mines (13-4-3, 9-1-0 RMAC) vs (4) #3 Cal State Dominguez Hills (14-1-5, 7-0-4 CCAA) – Saturday, 6 p.m. PT – Carson, Calif. [Live Stats] [CCAA Network]

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WELCOME TO THE SHOW
The road to the NCAA Division II Men's Soccer Championship begins this weekend as the fifth-seeded #14 Colorado School of Mines men's soccer team will head out west this weekend for a second-round matchup with third-seeded #3 Cal State Dominguez Hills at Toro Stadium Saturday night.
 
FAN INFORMATION
For those planning on attending the match Saturday night, tickets can be pre-purchased here. Fans attending are strongly encouraged to purchase tickets in advance. Parking permits must be purchased on site and are separate from event tickets. The official digital program of the 2022 NCAA Division II Men's Soccer Championship can be accessed on the NCAA Division II men's soccer home page.
 
LIVE COVERAGE
Saturday's match will be live streamed free of charge on the CCAA Network. Live Stats for the match will be available through Sidearm.
 
WEEK 11 RECAP
Following a win over UCCS in the semifinals of the 2022 RMAC Men's Soccer Tournament, Mines got their trilogy match with CSU Pueblo in the tournament title contest. It was a frigid and wind-blown night at Stermole Stadium that saw the Orediggers score first in the fifth minute on a Tristan Semelsberger goal, but the ThunderWolves were able to answer right back in the five minutes that followed. Quin Collins put Mines back ahead in the 24th minute following a corner kick from Lucas King into the box that was headed down to Collins by Michael Sprauer, but again, CSUP was able to answer in the moments that followed and draw even at 2-2. Then right before the half, Sprauer put the Orediggers back up 3-2 and for most of the second period, that goal looked to be the one that would bring home a title until for the third time in the contest, the ThunderWolves tied things back up in the final 15 minutes of regulation. After two scoreless overtime periods, the match went to a penalty shootout that saw the first five attempts from both teams converted as the shootout advanced to the sudden-death stage. Following misses from both CSUP and Mines on the sixth attempt, each team converted their next three tries to head to the 10th round tied at 8-8. A miss off the crossbar from Pueblo opened the door for Mines' Marc Levin, who blasted a shot to the right side of the net to win the shootout and the 2022 RMAC Tournament title.  
 
BRINGING HOME THE HARDWARE
The Orediggers secured plenty of recognition and accolades from the RMAC at the conclusion of the regular season. Head Coach Greg Mulholland was named Coach of the Year for the fourth time after leading the Orediggers to a sixth consecutive regular season title, while six players garnered All-RMAC honors. Tristan Semelsberger, Michael Sprauer and Lucas King were all named First Team selections, with Azad Iliozer earning Second Team laurels. Brian Doherty and Caelin David rounded out the contingent, as both were named Honorable Mention selections. Sprauer was also named the RMAC Academic Player of the Year and was one of three Orediggers named Academic All-RMAC alongside Iliozer and Grant Bell. An additional 10 players were named to the RMAC Academic Honor Roll.
 
SCOUTING CAL STATE DOMINGUEZ HILLS
The Toros completed an unbeaten regular season in the CCAA by going 7-0-4 and opened their conference tournament with a 2-0 win over Chico State in the semifinals. Dominguez Hills drew #8 Cal State LA in the tournament final and came up short in a 2-1 contest after scoring first and leading until just before the half. Over their last seven matches, the Toros are just 2-5-0 and dropped four of their final five contests to end the regular season. Sulaiman Bah led the team in all scoring categories this season, amassing 17 goals, fourth-most in NCAA Division II, and 10 assists for 44 points, also fourth-most in Division II this season. His seven game-winning goals are also tied for most in the country this season. Next on the stat sheet are Michael McKibbin with six goals and Martin Velasquez, who has scored five times and assisted on an additional seven. Six other Toros have scored this season, five of which have at least three goals to their respective ledgers. Aside from Bah and Velasquez, a total of 10 other players have recorded at least one assist this season, as Chunghwan Lee and Kenny Lee are the next two names on that list with five and four each. In goal, Dominguez Hills has utilized a pair of keepers this season, with Sebastian Ascencio seeing most of the action, starting all 14 of his appearances for over 1,000 minutes and making 34 saves and allowing just nine goals for a GAA of 0.81 while posting three solo shutouts. He has split time with Frank Aguilar, who has started six times while appearing in 12 matches for 799 minutes and made 17 saves and posted four solo shutouts while allowing just five goals for a GAA of 0.56. Combined, the two have recorded 11 total shutouts this season and helped the Toros outscore their opponents 45-14 this season.
 
SERIES HISTORY
Saturday night will be the first-ever meeting between the Toros and Orediggers. However, Mines has already faced four teams this season from the state of California, going 1-1-2 in those matches. Dominguez Hills is 3-3-0 all-time against schools from the state of Colorado, while Mines is 9-12-3 all-time against schools from the state of California.
 
THE SKIPPER
Head Coach Greg Mulholland joined the program in 2007 as an assistant coach before taking over as interim head coach in 2017 and full head coach in 2018, making the 2022 season his 16th with the Orediggers. Through five years at the helm, Mulholland 85-18-11 overall with a mark of 57-3-6 in RMAC play. His overall winning percentage through the 2021 season ranks #1 among all active coaches in NCAA Division II with a minimum of five years as a DII head coach. Last season, Mulholland became the first men's soccer coach in the history of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference to win five straight RMAC regular-season championships. He is a four-time RMAC Coach of the Year and headed the 2019 and 2020-21 United Soccer Coaches South Central Region Staffs of the Year.
 
THEY ARE THE CAPTAINS NOW
One day prior to the season opener, Coach Mulholland announced that the 2022 team captains are Lucas King and Grant Bell. King is entering his sixth season with the program and fifth as a starter between outside back and the midfield. He led the team in assists in 2021 on his way to Second-Team All-America status. Bell, an outside back, is a true sophomore who started 13 of 20 matches in 2021 and appeared in 18 while scoring one goal with two assists and serving on a back line that helped post eight shutouts thanks to a combined 0.87 goals-against average.
 
CHECKING THE STAT SHEET
Mines has a double-figure scorer of their own in Tristan Semelsberger, who found the net for the 14th time in 2022 in the RMAC title match last Friday. His six game-winners this season trail only Bah and one other player this season in Division II nationally. Azad Iliozer has six goals on the season along with five assists, both of which are second on the club. RMAC Academic Player of the Year Michael Sprauer has also scored six times this season while Chris Seery and Gabriel Rodriguez follow on the list with five and four goals respectively. When it comes to assists, no one has been better for the Orediggers this season than Lucas King, who recorded one in each RMAC Tournament match and now has three assists Mines' previous four matches. He is followed by Iliozer and once more by Seery and Rodriguez, who each have three assists. For the season, a dozen different players have found the back of the net for Mines while 14 have recorded at least one assist. RMAC Tournament MVP Quin Collins headlines both categories, as he scored in each of the Oredigger's first two postseason matches and recorded an assist in last Friday's final, and now has five points in the last two contest. In goal, Kenneth Symmes has taken over as the primary keeper and was named to the RMAC All-Tournament team following a seven-save outing in the final against CSU Pueblo and a shutout in the semifinals against UCCS. In seven total matches this season, he has started three times and logged 438 minutes, recording 17 saves while recording a GAA of 1.03 and a .773 save percentage. All-RMAC Honorable Mention Brian Doherty started 17 times in the regular season and made 47 saves along with posting seven shutouts in 1,382 minutes, but will miss the remainder of the season with an injury.
 
CLIMBING THE RANKS
Two different Orediggers are currently making moves in the program record book. Lucas King now ranks second all-time in program history with 36 assists and now needs six more assists to break Niki Grotz' (2014-17) all-time record of 41. Also making moves is goalkeeper Brian Doherty. His shutout against Colorado Mesa in the penultimate match of the regular season gives him 15 in his career moved him into a tie for fourth all-time with Kevin Galloway (2003-06).
 
NEW 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.
 
IN THE POLLS
Mines was picked #2 in the RMAC preseason coaches' poll announced earlier this season while making an appearance at #20 in the first United Soccer Coaches Division II Top 25 of the season. In last week's United Soccer Coaches Top 25 poll, Mines advanced one spot up to #14. The Orediggers were edged on the conference list by Colorado Mesa which earned eight first-place votes and 97 points while Mines totaled three first-place votes and 92 points. On the national list, early season foe Cal Poly Pomona dropped three spots to #16 with CSU Pueblo moved up one position to #9. NCAA Second Round Foe Cal State Dominguez Hills checked in at #3, while Western Washington continued to receive votes in last week's rankings.
 
LOOKING AHEAD
Should Mines win Saturday night to advance, they will play again either November 17 or 18 against the winner of the match between the top seed in Super Region 4, Cal State LA and the winner of the first-round match between Northwest Nazarene and West Texas A&M. The highest remaining seed will determine the host of the third round.
 
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.