#9 (1) Mines (15-1-3, 10-0-2) vs. (3) Regis (12-6-2, 9-2-1) – Saturday, 12 p.m. – Golden, Colo. [Live Stats] [RMAC Network]

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CHAMPIONSHIP BOUND
Wednesday night's RMAC tournament semifinal between MSU Denver and #9 Colorado School of Mines will go down as one of the most memorable matches in program history. In the first match under the new NCAA overtime rules, the Orediggers scored twice in the extra time and fended off a late rally by the Roadrunners to advance to the championship match on Saturday with a 3-2 win.
 
FAN INFORMATION
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.
 
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 206-36-35. His .807 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. 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.
 
BRINGING HOME THE HARDWARE
The RMAC announced their All-Academic teams and Honor Roll along with All-Conference Team and major award winners earlier in the week, and 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. Tuesday saw 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. Koehler was also announced Friday as the recipient of the RMAC Summit Award for women's soccer as the student-athlete with the highest GPA competing at the championship site.
 
HOW WE GOT HERE
Mines and MSU Denver played perhaps one of the best matches of the season in the RMAC semifinals Wednesday at Stermole Stadium. The two sides matched each other play for play nearly the entire evening as goals were hard to come by. In the 78th minute, a foul called inside the penalty area saw Jordan Barnhart convert the ensuing kick to put the Orediggers ahead late in regulation. But much like Mines did in the first meeting of the year between the teams, MSUD was able to tie the match in the final three minutes, as Katy Coats sent a free kick from 20 yards out into the net for the equalizer. Heading to overtime for the first time under the new NCAA rules that dictate no more golden goals and that both extra periods will be played regardless of any score changes, the Orediggers got comfortable with the new format right away, as Reese McDermott scored on a ball from Landry Corbett to retake the lead 2-1. Mines scored again in the second overtime period, this time as Laura Butler went top shelf on a ball from Ellise Putnam to make it 3-1. The Roadrunners closed back to within one late on a Mines own goal off another free kick, but a comeback wasn't meant to be for the visitors as the Orediggers advanced to the RMAC Tournament title match for the first time since 2019.
 
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, while Seattle Pacific continues to receive votes. In the latest batch of regional rankings, Mines sits second in the South Central Region as the highest-ranked RMAC team and trail only Dallas Baptist. Angelo State, West Texas A&M, UCCS and St. Mary's (TX) are round out the top six while Lubbock Christian and St. Edwards are seventh and eighth.
 
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 REGIS
The Rangers had their own excitement and drama in their semifinal with UCCS Wednesday night, as they also went to overtime and emerged with a 3-2 win over the second-seeded Mountain Lions. Jillian Skurcenski scored her first goal of the season in just the 16th minute but UCCS tied things late in regulation to force OT. After the Mountain Lions retook the lead shortly into the first extra period, the Rangers tied the match in the second over time by way of a UCCS own goal before Audrey Teague scored her seventh goal of the year with less than two minutes left to secure the win. Teague is tied for the team lead in goals with Kelby Kuo and is second on the club in assists behind on Natalie Bunch, who has assisted on four goals while scoring four herself. Skurcenski became the 11th different player to score this season for Regis while a dozen Rangers have logged at least one assist. For the season, Regis has outscored their opponents 31-19. In goal, Katelyn Martin made 11 saves in the semifinal win and now has 101 on the year, the most in the RMAC. She has started all but one of the matches for the Rangers this season and in 19 appearances, has clocked 1,700 minutes and recorded seven shutouts while posting a GAA of 1.01 and an .842 save percentage. Backing her up are Baileigh Baker and Grace Glover, who have combined for 120 minutes and four saves while not allowing a goal.
 
SERIES HISTORY
Saturday will be the second meeting of the season between Mines and Regis, the previous meeting coming just 10 days ago on October 26 in which the Orediggers clinched the RMAC regular season title with a 2-0 win. Mines has won seven of the last 10 meetings going back to 2015, with two draws and one loss. The last time the teams met in postseason play was all the way back in 2013 in the RMAC Tournament semifinals and saw Mines win 1-0 on their way to a third straight title. All time, the Orediggers are 19-9-2 against the Rangers and 8-4-1 at home, not having lost in Golden since 2014.
 
LOOKING AT THE STAT SHEET
Reese McDermott scored for the fourth match in a row Wednesday and now has found the net 14 times this season, the most on the team and second-most in the RMAC. Laura Butler scored in back-to-back matches for the third time this fall and now has seven goals while continuing to lead the team with six assists. Jordan Barnhart's career year continues as she converted a penalty kick for the second-straight match and now has six goals this season and improves to 3-3 on penalties. RMAC Freshman of the Year Afton Rasco and Paola Rubi each have five goals while Katie Koehler has four, Amena Nelson has three and Brooke Pennington has two. All told, a dozen different Orediggers have scored in 2022 while 15 different players have tallied an assist. One of the top offensive units in the league this season, Mines has outscored the opposition 51-13 and recorded 13 shutouts in 19 matches. Those shutouts have been in large part to a defensive unit that is allowing fewer than nine shots per match and holding opposing teams to 0.68 goals per game. Freshman Sadie wolf has emerged as a mainstay between the pipes, recording 27 saves and recording six shutouts in nine matches since taking over as the starter October 2. In that span she has only allowed five goals and has a GAA of 0.54 while recording a save percentage of .844 in 830 minutes. Emma Carstens started the first nine matches of 2022 and logged 20 saves and five shutouts while posting a GAA of 0.91 and a .714 save percentage in 791 minutes, while Allie Lundgren has played 109 minutes in two matches and made four saves while not allowing a goal.
 
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 22 career goals are now sixth all-time having passed Brooke Stoermer (2014-17). In addition, her 47 are now eighth all-time behind Stoermer (2014-17) at 51.. Her seven game-winning goals are tied for sixth in program history with Erin Onat (2008-11) and Caitlin Kaltenbaugh (2013-16). McDermott is now tied with Kayla Mitchell (2007) and Anna Evans (2011) for the fifth-most goals in a season at 13. When it comes to shutouts, Sadie Wolf now has six in her young career and has now passed Marissa Burton (2005-06) in that category, trailing Penny Rogers (2008-11) by one.
 
LOOKING AHEAD
Regardless of the outcome Saturday, Mines will await hearing their name called in the NCAA Division II Women's Soccer Championship Selection Show on November 7 at 5 p.m. MT.
 
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.