(2) #9 Mines (17-1-3, 10-0-2 RMAC) vs. (1) #1 Dallas Baptist (17-1-1, 10-1-1 LSC) – Thursday, 10 a.m. PT – Bellingham, Wash. [Live Stats] [Live Video]

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THE ROAD TO SEATTLE
After hosting the opening rounds of the 2022 NCAA Division II Women's Soccer Championship, the #9 Colorado School of Mines women's soccer team will head back to the Evergreen State this weekend for the South Central Regional final against the region's top seed and the number one team in the country Dallas Baptist in Bellingham, Washington hosted by two seed Western Washington, the highest remaining seed in the West Region.
 
FAN INFORMATION
Tickets for the match Thursday can be purchased here. On-site parking will be available at cost on Thursday and free of charge on Saturday. The official digital program of the 2022 NCAA Division II Women's Soccer Championship can be accessed on the NCAA Division II women's soccer home page.
 
LIVE COVERAGE
The match this weekend will be streamed free of charge on Western Washington's YouTube 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 208-36-35. His .804 career win percentage is currently among the top-10 active NCAA Division II coaches, and on October 6 at CCU, he became just the second RMAC coach to reach 200 career victories, joining current UCCS boss J.B. Belzer. Heading into the 2022 national tournament, Fickes has overseen 24 All-American selections, 12 Academic All-Americans, 69 all-conference honorees, and 21 RMAC major award winners while guiding Mines to six RMAC regular-season titles and nine RMAC Tournament trophies, with 14 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.
 
BRINGING HOME THE HARDWARE
When the RMAC announced their All-Academic teams and Honor Roll along with All-Conference Team and major award winners, the Mines women's soccer program was well-represented. Katie Koehler and Reese McDermott were named All-Academic First Team honorees while an additional 13 players were named to the Academic Honor Roll on Monday. Six Orediggers named All-RMAC selections in addition to earning two superlative awards, while head coach Kevin Fickes was voted Coach of the Year for the fourth time in his career. Jordan Barnhart was selected as RMAC Defensive Player of the Year and named to the league's First Team, while Afton Rasco was tabbed as the RMAC Freshman of the Year and was named to the Second Team, the only freshman named to either All-RMAC squad. Reese McDermott landed a spot on the First Team for the second time in as many seasons while Laura Butler rounded out the trio of First Team selections with her first career postseason honor. Joining Rasco on the second team was Koehler while Lauren Clingman was named Honorable Mention All-RMAC. In addition, six players landed All-Tournament team honors, headlined by McDermott as the Most Valuable player with Rasco, Butler, Sadie Wolf, Barnhart and Landry Corbett all being recognized for their outstanding efforts in the tournament. Tuesday, the D2CCA announced their All-Region Teams and three members of the Mines program, Barnhart, Butler and McDermott, were named All-South Central Region First Team selections.
 
WEEK 12 REVIEW
Mines secured a berth in the round of 16 with a 2-1 win over UCCS Sunday afternoon at Stermole Stadium in a second-round matchup. Reese McDermott scored the fastest goal in program history just 35 seconds into the match. The Mountain Lions answered with a goal in the 16th minute as the score remained even until the 70th minute, when Ellise Putnam scored the second game-winning goal of her career in the NCAA Tournament to lift Mines to the 2-1 win after a stellar defensive effort over the final 10 minutes as Sadie Wolf capped her day in goal with six saves.
 
IN THE POLLS
The Orediggers were chosen atop the RMAC preseason coaches' poll announced earlier this season and maintained their standing at #9 in last week's 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 checking in rising from 25 to 19, while Seattle Pacific continued to receive votes.
 
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 DALLAS BAPTIST
DBU is riding a 10-match winning streak after suffering their only loss of the season to begin the month of October against then 24th-ranked Angelo State. Since then, the Patriots have outscored their opponents 27-4 over that span that included two wins in the Lone Star Conference Tournament to win the league title and a shutout win over West Texas A&M in the NCAA second round last weekend. Annie Severide, who scored twice against Mines in the first meeting of the season, leads the way with 12 goals and has four assists for 28 points with five game-winners. Michelle Gonzalez has scored six times and is third on the team with seven assists for 19 points. Angelina Olmos, Kaleigh Naizer and Sophia Schrock each have four goals and have combined for 11 assists, while Haley Roberson has a team-leading 10 assists while scoring twice herself. 13 different players have scored this season for DBU while 14 have at least one assist. For the season, the Patriots have assisted 47 times on 45 goals while only allowing 11 goals to the opposition. Three different keepers have seen action for Dallas Baptist this season, but it has been Adrianna Schroeder who has been the everyday starter, playing 1,613 minutes in 19 matches while recording seven shutouts with a GAA of 0.61 and an .814 save percentage. Backing her up are Breanna Bowen and Samantha Jones, who have recorded 69 and 28 minutes respectively and have not recorded any saves while also not allowing a goal against a combined 11 shots.
 
SERIES HISTORY
Thursday will be the second meeting of 2022 between the Patriots and Orediggers, the first coming on September 3 and the only loss on the season for Mines that saw DBU score twice in succession in the second half to secure a 3-2 win. All-time, the Orediggers lead the series 4-3-4 all-time, but haven't won since the 2017 NCAA Second Round. The last two postseason meetings in 2018 and 2019 each ended in a 1-1 draw, with the Patriots advancing on PKs both times. Three of the last five matches between the teams have gone to penalties, as the last times Mines won in shootout was in the 2016 postseason following a scoreless draw.
 
LOOKING AT THE STAT SHEET
Reese McDermott logged her team-leading 15th goal of the season in the NCAA second round and has now scored in three of Mines' four postseason matches and seven of the previous nine going back to the regular season. Laura Butler scored twice in the RMAC tournament and has seven goals on the season with six assists. Afton Rasco and Jordan Barnhart each have six goals and three assists on the season while Paola Rubi has scored five times and assisted on a sixth. 13 different Orediggers have scored this season with 15 recording at least one assist led by Landry Corbett with seven, with Colleen Tyrrell finding herself third in that category with five. Freshman netminder Sadie Wolf has been outstanding in goal since taking over the starting job on October 2, logging 1,010 minutes and recording seven shutouts in 11 matches. She's made 36 saves and allowed just six goals, good for a GAA of 0.53 and an .811 save percentage. Emma Carstens, who started the first nine matches of the year has 20 saves in 791 minutes and recorded five shutouts while posting a 0.91 GAA and .714 save percentage.
 
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 23 career goals are now tied for fifth all-time with Jennifer Kendall (2015-18). In addition, her 49 points are good for eighth, just two behind Brooke Stoermer (2014-17) for seventh. Her seven game-winning goals are tied for sixth in program history with Erin Onat (2008-11) and Caitlin Kaltenbaugh (2013-16), while she is now fourth all-time in single-season goals with 15, two behind Anna Evans' 17 in 2012. When it comes to shutouts, Sadie Wolf now has seven in her young career and has now passed Penny Rogers (2008-11) for sixth all-time and now trails Sierra Roth (2018-21) by five.
 
LOOKING AHEAD
Should Mines advance with a win Thursday, they will play in the National Quarterfinal on Saturday November 19 at 1 p.m. PT against the winner of the West Regional Final between Western Washington and Concordia in the second match of the day Thursday. The full bracket 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.