DENVER, Colo. – Making their second short-distance road trip of the weekend, the #18 Colorado School of Mines women's soccer team was downtown at the Assembly Athletic Complex Sunday afternoon to take on MSU Denver. Three first half goals set the tone early and often for the Orediggers (9-2-3, 5-1-2) as two of those goal came from Afton Rasco as the Roadunners (5-5-4, 4-3-1) just had no answer all match long as Mines won by a final score of 4-0.
 
It didn't take long for the Orediggers to get on the scoreboard, as quick throw-in on the far side of the field by Cloey Seltzer was collected by Afton Rasco who utilized a bit of a screen from Reese McDermott to get some space away from two defenders before firing a shot from just inside the 18-yard area into the upper left corner of goal past a diving save attempt from Kylie Bach to make it 1-0 less than 10 minutes into the action.
 
Just past the midway point of the first half, the Orediggers and Rasco scored again. An Ava Harman free kick from the far side of the field just past the edge of the penalty area deflected off Reese McDermott and Katie Koehler before settling at the feet of Rasco, who made a diving stab with her right foot as the ball glanced off a Roadrunner defender and snuck just inside the post past the reach of Bach to make it 2-0.
 
Looking for anything to get back in the flow of the match, the Roadrunners tried to get on the board in the 30th minute following a save by Bach as going back the other way, Monica Yoder lined up on goal and put the shot on goal, but instead of finding the net, it found the hands of Sadie Wolf as it remained a two-goal game.
 
With momentum squarely on their side, Mines continued to pressure MSU Denver and added a third goal in the 38th minute, started once more by a set piece. Once again, Harman stood over the ball on the near side of the field this time again just outside the boundary of the penalty area and played it in to the back post where none other than Natalie Rouse was waiting to head it home for the third Oredigger goal of the period to close out the first half.
 
While the pace of the match as far as shots were concerned slowed some in the second half, Mines continued to fire away, looking to keep adding on to an already impressive lead. Ultimately, it was a goal by Bella Campos in the 79th minute that all but iced things, as she collected a pass played ahead by Ellise Putnam and shook a pair of Roadrunner defenders, finishing between the legs of one to tuck a shot inside the far post to make it 4-0 Mines.
 
Both teams emptied their benches to play out the final 10 minutes and not content with already scoring four times, Mines had two more shots on goal in the waning moments of action but neither made it past the keeper as nonetheless, the Orediggers posted a strong showing with a 4-0 win and pick up three mor points to move into third place in the RMAC standings.
 
NOTABLES
-Rasco's goals were her second and third of the season and first since September 3 against Chico State; she now has 10 goals in her career as an Orediggers in 34 career matches
-Rouse scored her fifth goal of the season and first since the September 29 match against Black Hills State; all five of her goals have been scored on headers off free kicks this season
-Campos's goal was her team-leading eighth of the season and now gives her 19 points on the season, tied for the most among freshmen in the RMAC this season with Madeline Gardner of Regis
-Putnam registered her team-best seventh assist on the season and now stands alone atop the RMAC in that statistic
-Harman picked up her sixth assist of the season on the Rouse goal
-McDermott also got credit for assist number six on the season while Koehler earned her second
-Wolf notched two saves in goal to her fourth shutout in the last four matches and the ninth of the season
-The sophomore now has 13 career shutouts and takes over fifth all-time in program history from Sierra Roth (2018-21)
-Mines logged 18 shots with 12 on goal in the contest while allowing only seven and two respectively to MSU Denver
 
UP NEXT
Mines to Stermole Stadium next weekend for the final two home matches of the regular season against New Mexico Highlands and Adams State on Friday and Sunday.
 
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.