Mines (5-3-2, 2-0-0) at Colorado Christian (6-2-2, 2-0-0) – Wednesday, 7 p.m. – Lakewood, Colo. [Live Stats] [RMAC Network]
Mines (5-3-2) at MSU Denver (7-1-2, 1-0-1) – Sunday, 12 p.m. – Denver, Colo. [Live Stats] [RMAC Network]

---

 
CONFERENCE PLAY ROLLS ON
After opening Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference play with back-to-back wins for the eighth straight season, the Colorado School of Mines men's soccer team hits the road this week for the first of four matches in a row away from Stermole Stadium. Up first, two local rivals are on the docket, with a trip to Lakewood Wednesday for a 7 p.m. match with Colorado Christian before making a trip downtown Sunday to take on MSU Denver at 12 p.m.
 
LIVE COVERAGE
Both matches this weekend will be streamed free of charge on the RMAC Network and will have live stats through SIDEARM.
 
WEEK FIVE RECAP
Returning to Stermole Stadium for the beginning of RMAC play couldn't have gone any better for Mines, as they outscored the opposition 11-1 in two matches, beginning with an 8-0 rout of Adams State Friday night that saw seven different goal scorers, including two from freshman Marc Levin. Sunday, the Orediggers had to rally after allowing an early goal to Fort Lewis, but Tristan Semelsberger, who scored in both matches, rocketed home the game-winner on a free kick, finding the upper right corner of goal before Chris Seery, who also scored in both matches, iced things with a goal in the final 70 seconds for a 3-1 win.
 
SCOUTING COLORADO CHRISTIAN
CCU rebounded from just their second loss of the season against UCCS in their final non-conference match of the season by sweeping their opening weekend of RMAC play, knocking off Fort Lewis Friday night 3-2 before shutting out Adams State 1-0 Sunday afternoon. The Cougars are unbeaten at Trailblazer Stadium this season, posting a ledger of 4-0-1 on home turf as they welcome Mines Wednesday night. Colorado Christian has seen eight different goal scorers this season, led by Adrian Diez and Gabe Roloff with four apiece. Miguel Fonseca leads the way with three assists and is tied for second on the club in scoring with Lucca Casci. CCU has used three keepers in their first 10 matches, with Michel Pinoncely seeing the most time, starting six times and playing 531 minutes, having allowed just two goals while making five saves and logging two shutouts. Max Collingwood has started four times and leads the team with 14 saves in 360 minutes, while Chris Alexander has a save in his lone appearance of the season.
 
SCOUTING MSU DENVER
The Roadrunners went 1-0-1 in the first week of RMAC play, splitting with Regis in a 1-1 draw last Wednesday before making the trip to Rapid City and knocking off South Dakota Mines 2-0. MSU Denver hasn't dropped a match since September 4, when they came up shot 2-0 to then #7 Fort Hayes State in their only setback of the season. 10 different players have scored so far in 2022 for the Roadrunners, led by Aidan Bates and Aaron Biggerstaff who have four apiece, while Adan Perez has three goals and is tied for second on the club with three assists alongside Kazuki Peralta. Bates is also tied for the club lead in assists with four, joined by Jonas Votaw who also has a goal this season. Between the pipes, Ross Miller has started all 10 contest and seen all 900 minutes this season and has 36 saves, which ranks third in the RMAC, and has only allowed seven goals while recording five clean sheets.
 
SERIES HISTORY
Looking at the series history, the Orediggers have seen a great deal of success against the Cougars, leading 45-10-2 all-time and having won the last 12 meetings following a 3-2 loss in 2012 that snapped a 20-match winning streak. Mines' last trip to Lakewood came in 2019 and resulted in a 7-0 win. Against MSU Denver, Mines again leads the all-time series, but it's bit closer at 46-35-9 all-time. The Orediggers have won three-straight and six of the last seven overall going back to 2017, the lone exception being a 1-1 draw in 2019. The last trip to Denver resulted in a 4-0 win last season.
 
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 76-17-11 overall with a mark of 52-2-6 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 three-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
10 different players have scored for Greg Mulholland's club this season following the offensive outburst that ensued this weekend. Tristan Semelsberger scored twice over the weekend and now leads the team with six goals, which is also tied for fourth in the RMAC. Chris Seery has scored all three of his goals in the Orediggers' last three matches, while Michael Sprauer has also scored three times this season. Newcomer Marc Levin scored twice in just his third action of the year Friday to join Azad Iliozer and Gabriel Rodriguez as the only other multi-goal scorers for Mines this season. Lucas King leads the team with three assists while Iliozer and Rodriguez are tied for second with two assists. Brian Doherty moved to 4-3-2 in goal this season after a rather light weekend, facing only two shots on goal and currently has 18 saves, while Kenneth Symmes is now up to five on the season after recording one in the second half Friday night.
 
CLIMBING THE RANKS
Two different Orediggers are currently making moves in the program record book. Lucas King's assist against Fort Lewis Sunday moved the graduate student into a tie Alex Nass at #4 all-time in that department with 30. He's two away from Jared Peacock at #3 and three away from Tesho Akindele at #2. King now needs 12 more assists to break Niki Grotz' (2014-17) all-time record of 41. Also making moves is goalkeeper Brian Doherty. His shutout against San Francisco State gave him sole possession of #5 on the Orediggers' all-time shutouts list. Doherty's 10 clean sheets during his time at Mines put him ahead of OJ Bullard (2000-03) and sit five back of Kevin Galloway (2003-06) at #4.
 
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 month while making an appearance at #20 in the first United Soccer Coaches Division II Top 25 of the season. 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, CSU Pueblo remains #15 with UCCS receiving votes for the third straight week while early-season opponents Cal Poly Pomona and Western Washington check in at #12 and #19 respectively.
 
LOOKING AHEAD
Following this week's matches close to home, Mines will head north to South Dakota for a date with South Dakota Mines Friday October 7 at 1 p.m. before returning to the Denver metropolitan area Sunday October 9 for a 12 p.m. match at Regis.
 
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.