LAKEWOOD, Colo. – Playing under the mid-day sun Thursday at Trailblazer Stadium, the #18 Colorado School of Mines women's soccer team lined up against Colorado Christian to begin their weekend and continue their chase for the top of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference standings. In a well-played match by both teams, it was a fortuitous bounce that led to a goal midway through the first half for the Orediggers (8-2-3, 4-1-2), as along with one of their best defensive outings of the season, were able to blank the Cougars (2-7-3, 0-5-2) and pick up three points in the process with a 1-0 win.
 
There wasn't much to speak of as the match got underway with the Orediggers applying early pressure on offense and earning four corner kicks in the opening nine minutes of play as they spent plenty of time in their offensive third, but couldn't find a way to solve a determined CCU defense.
 
After 25 minutes without a shot by either side, the first significant action of the day came by way of the Mines bench, this time in person of Landry Corbett. After subbing on in the 22nd minute, the senior lined up for a corner kick in the 26th minute and played it back in to the short side of the field to Reese McDermott, who dished it right back to Corbett who pulled up from about 17 yards out with a tough angle on the shot and looked to find Katie Koehler on a cross right in front of goal, but the ball landed short of Koehler and bounced right between her legs before deflecting off the gloves of Alana Lopp and managing to stay just inside the far post for the first goal of the game.
 
Business picked up in the moments that followed, as Corbett tried again min the 30th minute but missed wide right while tries from Paola Rubi in the 31st minute and Afton Rasco in the 34th minute both looked good but were saved by Lopp as the opening period came to an end.
 
Business didn't slow down on offense for the Orediggers with play resuming in the second half, as Lauren Clingman lined up a shot in the 48th minute but she too was turned back by the keeper Lopp. Colorado Christian finally mustered their first shot attempt of the day in the 72nd minute when Skylee Deladurantaye took aim, but Sadie Wolf was ready and waiting as she made the save and possession swung back to the Orediggers.
 
Spending much of their time of possession still in their offensive third of the field, Mines continued to try and probe the Cougars' defense to find another opportunity to score. Rasco had a near miss off the near side post in the 75th minute while McDermott had a chance in the 82nd minute but was denied her eighth goal of the season with a diving save.
 
CCU went into desperation mode in the final five minutes, doing everything they could to try and draw even to earn a point with a draw, but the Orediggers' defense would have none off it, as a series of successful clears and two blocked shots continued to stymie the Cougars. One final clear in the last minute by Michelle Easley was picked up on the other side of midfield by McDermott, who had a step on the CCU defender and went one-on-one with Lopp with the clock ticking down, first firing a shot that caromed off the near post before collecting the rebound and missing just over the crossbar as Lopp was still trying to recover, as while Mines came up snake eyes on their second goal of the day, they still walked away with the win by a final score of 1-0.
 
NOTABLES
-Corbett's goal was her second of the season and the fourth of her career, tying her career-high for goals in a season which came back in 2021
-McDermott continues to rack up the assists this season and add to her career-high mark as she's up to five on the year and now has nine during her time in a Mines uniform
-Additionally, McDermott is now one point shy of 70 in her career and would be the fourth player in program history to reach that milestone
-Mines didn't allow a CCU shot attempt until the 72nd minute, and allowed just three shots for the duration of the match, marking the fourth time this season they've held an opponent below five shots in a match
-Wolf and the defense recorded the team's eighth shutout of the season and third in a row, tying the longest shutout streak for the season that came over the first three matches of the season
-The Orediggers finished the match with 14 shots, five of which were goal and at least three more that connected off the woodwork of goal
 
UP NEXT
The Orediggers will head downtown Sunday to take on MSU Denver at 12 p.m. before returning to Stermole Stadium next weekend for the final two home matches of the regular season against New Mexico Highlands and Adams State.
 
Fans can keep up with Mines women's soccer on Twitter and Instagram 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.