#15 Mines (6-1-2, 3-0-1) vs Colorado Mesa (4-4-1, 2-1-0) – Friday, 6 p.m. – Golden, Colo. [Live Stats] [RMAC Network]
#15 Mines (6-1-2, 3-0-1) vs Westminster (4-2-2, 2-0-1) – Sunday, 1 p.m. – Golden, Colo. [Live Stats] [RMAC Network]

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CROSSED FLAGS IN THE AIR
It's hard to believe, but the #15 Colorado School of Mines women's soccer team is past the halfway mark of the season with just eight regular season matches remaining before postseason action gets underway. The Orediggers will be back at Stermole Stadium this week for two matches for the first time since opening weekend when they host Colorado Mesa Friday night and Westminster on Sunday.
 
LIVE COVERAGE
Both matches 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 197-36-34. His .801 career win percentage is currently among the top-10 active NCAA Division II coaches, and he could become just the second RMAC coach to reach 200 career victories this season 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.

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.
 
WEEK FIVE REVIEW
The Orediggers cruised to their fourth shutout in a row Friday night against in a 3-0 win over Black Hills State, getting goals from Laura Butler, Brooke Pennington and Katie Koehler to extend their home unbeaten streak to 22 matches, going back to the 2019 season. Sunday was a back-and-forth affair with MSU Denver, as the Orediggers rallied to even the score on three occasions to earn a 3-3 draw, the last goal coming in the 87th minute from Katie Koehler, the latest equalizer in a match in program history.
 
IN THE POLLS
The Orediggers were chosen atop the RMAC preseason coaches' poll announced earlier this month and climed to #17 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, remains in sole possession of first place in the poll while Angelo State rose in the rankings to #24.
 
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 COLORADO MESA
The Mavericks opened RMAC play with a 6-0 win over Black Hills State and a 4-1 win over CSU Pueblo before dropping a 3-1 decision to UCCS last time out. CMU boasts the league leader in scoring in Lila Dere, who has 13 goals and two assists for 28 points. Evelyn Hammer is second on the team with five goals while Addie Randel has three. Five other players for CMU have also scored this season. Haley Klasner's four assists lead the team while three other Mavericks have two assists each. Between the pipes, Chloe Dody has started all eight games in which she has appeared for 700 minutes and tallied 32 stops, a top five mark in the RMAC, while collecting four wins and two shutouts. Ella Harrison has started her only appearance this season and made three saves.
 
SCOUTING WESTMINSTER
Westminster takes on Regis Friday night before making the trip to Stermole Sunday afternoon. The Griffons are yet unbeaten in RMAC action, winning against UCCS and CSU Pueblo 2-0 and 2-1 respectively following a 1-1 draw with MSU Denver to open league play. Madison Schmidt leads all players for Westminster with four goals on the season while the quartet of Kim Hendrickson, Elaina Pierce, Alex Hoffman and Cassidy Jackson all have two apiece. Alexa Maple, the RMAC assists leader, has nine dimes this season and leads the team with 11 points, having scored once herself. In goal, Kelsea Cracoft has logged 695 minutes and posted a GAA of 1.17 while making 11 saves against 45 shots to go with four wins and two shutouts.
 
SERIES HISTORY
Friday will mark the 23rd meeting all-time with the Mavericks with Mines leading the series 17-4-1 all-time. CMU took a 3-1 decision in Grand Junction last season, snapping a streak of 12 consecutive wins by Mines for their first win the series since 2007, which was also the last time Colorado Mesa won in Golden. Sunday's meeting with Westminster will be the eighth between the two schools, with the Orediggers leading 5-0-2. The last two meetings have resulted in draws, the most recent of which was in the RMAC Tournament last November that saw Mines advance on PKs 3-0 in a 2-2 contest.
 
LOOKING AT THE STAT SHEET
Nine matches are in the books in 2022 for Colorado Mines and nine different players have found the net this season, with eight scoring multiple goals. Reese McDermott's six goals lead the team and ranks second in the RMAC. Laura Butler, who scored her fifth goal of the season against Black Hills State, leads the team with four assists, the third-best mark in the RMAC. McDermott trails only Colorado Mesa's Lila Dere in goals (13), while Butler is behind Westminster's Alexa Maple (8) and UCCS's Sydney Lasater (6) when it comes to assists. Afton Rasco and Paola Rubi each have three goals, while Amena Nelson and Jordan Barnhart, Brooke Pennington and Katie Koehler have two goals apiece. In goal, Emma Carstens has played 791 minutes this season and has 20 saves while posting a GAA of 0.91 to go with five shutouts, all of which rank in the top-10 of the league in the early going.
 
LOOKING AHEAD
After their first full weekend of matches at home since the start of the season at the end of August, the Orediggers will be back on the road, first heading to Colorado Christian Thursday October 6 at 1 p.m. followed by a trip to UCCS Sunday October 9 at 2:30 p.m.
 
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.