Mines (1-1-2) vs Western Washington (1-0-2) – Thursday, 5 p.m. – Golden, Colo. [Live Stats] [RMAC Network]
Mines (1-1-2) vs Seattle Pacific (0-1-2) – Saturday, 6 p.m. – Golden, Colo. [Live Stats] [RMAC Network]
 
HOME SWEET HOME
The Colorado School of Mines Men's Soccer team returns home this weekend to Stermole Soccer Stadium for matches against two teams from the Evergreen State. Thursday sees a matchup opposite Western Washington at 5 p.m. before a Saturday evening match set for 6 p.m. against 2021 Great Northwest Athletic Conference champions Seattle Pacific.
 
LIVE COVERAGE
Both matches this weekend will be streamed free of charge on the RMAC Network and will have live stats through SIDEARM.
 
WEEK TWO RECAP
Mines hit the road for the first time in 2022 last week with a trip to the west coast for a pair of matches against Cal Poly Pomona and Cal State San Bernadino. On Thursday against the then #5 Mustangs, it was Tristan Semelsberger who played the hero, scoring a pair of second half goals, including the equalizer in the closing moments, to earn a 2-2 draw. The two goals were the 16th and 17th of his career and marked the second multi-goal game of his Oredigger career. Netminder Brian Doherty's six saves in the match were a season high and matched his career high total from the spring 2021 season against Fort Lewis. Sunday morning against the Coyotes, Mines got on the board early with a strike from Michael Sprauer from Caelin David before CSUSB netted what would end up being the final goal of the match in the 32nd minute from Martin Garcia. Despite a 10-8 edge in shots and 8-4 advantage in shots on goal, Mines couldn't manage to find the net for the go-ahead goal, despite good looks from Ian Kugler and Chris Seery. Doherty added three saves in goal in the match to bring his season tally to 12.
 
SCOUTING WESTERN WASHINGTON
Western Washington, who went 7-8-2 in 2021, made a clean sweep of their three preseason exhibition matches, outscoring their opponents 8-2 in those contests. In their first three matches of the regular season however, the success hasn't quite been able to match up, scoring just once in a win over Chico State. Last time out, the Vikings played then-#17 West Texas A&M to a scoreless draw. Ryan Rotter is the lone goal scorer for WWU this season while Dakota Stamnes has the club's lone assist. Theo Steinmetz leads the way with six shots, while Teagan Eldridge and Andrew Rotter have five each. In goal, Patrick Restum has played all 270 minutes this season and made nine saves while posting three shutouts.
 
SCOUTING SEATTLE PACIFIC
2021 NCAA Tournament participant Seattle Pacific, who posted a ledger of 12-4-2 a season ago, is still in search of their first win of 2022 following a pair of scoreless draws and a 3-2 loss to West Texas A&M last time out. The Falcons will take on Regis Thursday before making the short trip to Golden Saturday. Demian Alvarez and Andrew Tran are responsible for the club's two goals this season, while Judah Johnston and Alden Massey lead the way with eight and six shots respectively, with a combined seven on goal. Lars Helleren has been the man in goal this season, recording 11 saves and two shutouts while playing every minute of the season to date.
 
SERIES HISTORY
Thursday will be the fourth meeting all-time between Mines and Western Washington and just the second-ever in Golden, with the Vikings leading the series 2-1. The Orediggers won the first match between the two schools in 1998 on the road in 2OT by a final of 4-3, while WWU has taken the last two meetings, including last season in Bellingham 1-0. The only meeting in Golden between the two programs was in 2019, with the Vikings winning 4-3 in OT. The Orediggers and Falcons have met four times previously, including twice at home, with Mines leading the all-time series 3-1. The first meeting came in 1996 and resulted in a 3-1 Mines win in Golden. The two teams last played in Seattle last season and saw the Orediggers win 3-2 in OT for their second-straight win in the series.
 
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 72-15-11 overall with a mark of 50-2-6 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.
 
EARLY LEADERS
Four matches into the season, Azad Iliozer and Tristan Semelsberger lead Mines in scoring with two goals apiece. Behind them are Gabriel Rodriguez and Michael Sprauer, who each have a goal to their tally this season. John Burnett, Caelin David and Lucas King each boast one assist apiece. Semelsberger has taken 10 shots and put five of those on goal, scoring twice on three shots against Cal Poly Pomona. Goalkeeper Brian Doherty owns 12 saves, one win and one shutout after playing all 360 minutes to date.
 
HOME FIELD ADVANTAGE
The friendly confines of Stermole Stadium, perched at more than 5,700 feet above sea level, have seen plenty of success in recent seasons for Mines men's soccer. Since 2017, the Orediggers are 39-7-3 on their home pitch and have posted eight or more wins at Stermole in a season on four occasions.
 
CLIMBING THE RANKS
Two different Orediggers are currently making moves in the program record book. Lucas King's assist against Cal State Monterey Bay gave the graduate student sole possession of #5 on Mines' all-time assists list with 29. He's one helper away from tying Alex Nass at #4, three away from Jared Peacock at #3 and four away from Tesho Akindele at #2. King now needs 13 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 nine clean sheets during his time at Mines put him ahead of OJ Bullard (2000-03) and sit six 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, two RMAC counterparts joined the Orediggers with Colorado Mesa dropping to #18 this week and CSU Pueblo slotting #25. One of Mines' most recent foes, Cal Poly Pomona, slid from #5 to #15 this week. The Orediggers are set to play Cal Poly Pomona and Colorado Mesa once during the regular season while facing CSU Pueblo twice.
 
LOOKING AHEAD
Following this weekend's home stand, the Orediggers will return to the road for a pair of non-conference matches against RMAC opponents. Mines heads south to #25 CSU Pueblo for a 7 p.m. match next Thursday before venturing to Salt Lake City Sunday for a 12 p.m. contest against Westminster.
 
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.