Mines (4-4-5, 3-2-1) at Fort Lewis (8-3-2, 4-1-1) – Friday, 7 p.m. – Durango, Colo. [Live Stats] [RMAC Network]
Mines (4-4-5, 3-2-1) at Adams State (0-12-0, 0-6-0) – Sunday, 1 p.m. – Alamosa, Colo. [Live Stats] [RMAC Network]

---

 
ON THE ROAD AGAIN
Four games remain in the regular season for the Colorado School of Mines men's soccer team with three in a row on the road beginning this weekend when they'll head to Durango and Alamosa to take on Fort Lewis and Adams State as they look to continue their recent run of success in improve their positioning in the RMAC standings.
 
LIVE COVERAGE
Both matches this weekend will be streamed free of charge on the RMAC Network and will have live stats through SIDEARM.
 
WEEK 7 RECAP
Mines posted a pair of big wins at home to go 3-1-0 over their two-week homestand and pick up six more points in the standings with a 2-0 win over Regis Thursday followed by a 4-0 win over South Dakota Mines Sunday. Chris Seery scored for the third match in a row against the Rangers and was joined by Gabriel Rodriguez while Caden Allaire orchestrated a shutout against a Regis attack that put up an eye-watering 21 shot attempts. Sunday against the Hardrockers saw three different players score their first goals of the season, led by Marc Levin who finished with a goal and an assist while Caelin David and Quin Collins also scored while the defense limited SDM to just five total shots for the match.
 
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 six-plus years at the helm, Mulholland 88-23-17 overall with a mark of 62-5-7 in RMAC play. His overall winning percentage through the 2022 season ranks in the top 10 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 four-time RMAC Coach of the Year and headed the 2019 and 2020-21 United Soccer Coaches South Central Region Staffs of the Year.
 
WEARING THE C
Grant Bell, Caelin David and Ian Kugler will be the three men wearing the armband this season as selected by the team and coaches. Bell was a key member of a back line unit that logged 10 shutouts last season started 11 times in 16 matches for 1,128 minutes with an assist to his ledger in 2022. David and Kugler made up a deadly duo in the midfield last season, with the former earning Honorable Mention All-RMAC laurels by starting all 21 matches and leading the team with 1,813 minutes and picking up an assist along the way, while Kugler, a fifth-year senior, started 15 times in 19 matches for 1,228 minutes and tallied a goal and two assists.
 
IN THE POLLS
In the latest United Soccer Coaches Top 25 announced Tuesday, Mines didn't earn in any votes this week, but several RMAC rivals remain in the national discussion as CSU Pueblo remained at #5with Colorado Nesa breaking into the rankings at #18. Early season opponent Cal Poly remained ranked this week but slid to #12 while Cal State Monterey Bay, who debuted at #23 last week, rose one spot to #22 this week. As far as the RMAC goes, the ThunderWolves were picked to finish atop the conference while Mines, UCCS, Colorado Mesa and Regis rounded out the top five.
 
HERE'S WHERE WE STAND
With CSU Pueblo being downed in RMAC play for the first time last week, the top of the standings got a whole lot more interesting with just four games to play in the regular season. The ThunderWolves now have just a one-point lead over second place Colorado Mesa at 15-14 while Fort Lewis is just two points behind with 13 in third. Westminster is currently fourth with 11 points while Mines sits in fifth place with 10 points, just one point ahead of MSU Denver for the final spot in the RMAC Tournament with nine. UCCS, Regis and Colorado Christian are all currently on the outside looking in with eight, seven and six points respectively as everyone starts to feel the pressure to extend their seasons and get another game as the regular season winds down.
 
TAKING HOME THE HARDWARE
At one point this season, it looked like Mines may get shutout of winning any of the RMAC weekly awards in 2023, but Caden Allaire dispelled any further thoughts of that this week when he was named Goalkeeper of the Week following a 10-save weekend that saw him post a solo shutout against a relentless Regis attack and combine for a shutout Sunday against South Dakota Mines. Over his last 258:25 in goal, the first-year player out of Casper College has allowed just one goal and now has three clean sheets on the season. The Orediggers will look for him to continue his strong play as they continue their push for the RMAC Tournament.
 
EVERYBODY KNOWS CHRIS
Chris Seery seems to be heating up at the right time of year for Mines as the temperatures begin to slowly dip with the fall weather. The Englishman was held out of the scoring column Sunday, but has found the back of the cage in three of the last four matches for the Orediggers. Seery now has 13 goals during his time in Golden and will look to clear last season's career best mark of five before this year is up. Mines will need him to continue his strong play if they want to make a push for the playoffs.
 
A LONG TIME COMING
Redshirt sophomore Raul Gerhardus has had a long road to travel in order to finally suit up for the Orediggers. After missing each of his first two seasons on campus due to injury, the native of Wichita, Kansas finally made his long-awaited Mines debut on Sunday against South Dakota Mines. He finished the match with 23 minutes played and logged the first shot attempt of his career, and now that he has his first appearance, he sets his sights on his first goal at the collegiate level. An elite high school player, Gerhardus scored 94 times in his prep career with a single-season record of 33 in 2019. As the Orediggers look to continue their push for the postseason, they'll surely welcome the addition of a scoring threat like that into the rotation.
 
OFFENSIVE OUTBURST
Crazy as it sounds to say, Sunday against South Dakota Mines was the highest scoring match of the season for the Orediggers and doubled their previous season-high scoring output in a match (four times this season Mines has scored two goals). And even though one of those goals came courtesy of an own goal by the Hardrockers, there's no doubt Sunday was a confidence builder heading into a critical stretch of four matches to close the regular season, three of which are on the road. Marc Levin, Caelin David and Quin Collins each scored their first goals of the season in the game while the offense put up a season-high eight shots on goal for the second match in a row. With three in a row on the road starting this weekend, Mines will look to keep the momentum rolling, especially in their offensive third of the field.
 
CHECKING THE STATS
Eight different players have now scored for the Orediggers in 2023, led by Chris Seery and Marc Zimmerman who each have four goals to lead the team. Quin Collins, Ian Kugler, Marc Levin, Gabriel Rodriguez, Caelin David and Nathan Dreher all have one goal apiece while two goals by the opposition complete the balance of scoring for Mines.
 
Freshman Alex Gonzalez continues to lead the team with three assists while John Burnett now has two to his credit with Collins, Kugler, Levin and Rodriguez each adding one apiece.
 
Between the pipes, Caden Allaire has steadily improved his play and is now 4-4-5 on the year with three solo shutouts while combining for a fourth with 46 saves against 16 goals allowed for a GAA of 1.26 and a .742 save percentage in 1,139 minutes. Peter Saunders has been the reserve this season, appearing twice for 31 minutes with one save to his credit against the only shot he has faced.
 
As a group, Mines has broken even with the opposition in scoring this season at 16-16 and is averaging 1.23 goals and 12.7 shots per match, also just about even with opponents. They have nine assists on their 16 goals and 47 combined saves in goal while having taken 74 corner kicks while allowing just 69 to opponents and are 1-2 on PKs this season.
 
SCOUTING FORT LEWIS
The Skyhawks enter this week riding high after doing something no other team has been able to do in RMAC play this season, and that's beat CSU Pueblo at home as they join the Orediggers as the only two teams to thwart the ThunderWolves in 2023. That 3-2 win Sunday saw FLC rebound after a 3-2 loss to UCCS last Thursday that snapped a stretch of five wins in six matches going back to September 22.
 
10 different players have scored for the Skyhawks with a trio recording six or more goals led by Gabriel Legendre with nine, the second-highest tally in the RMAC this season. Tomas Dunes and anton Hjlamarsson each have six while Emmett Layman has three and David Citron and Loic Jean-Baptiste each have a pair. Four other players have one goal apiece.
 
In terms of assists, Fort Lewis is proficient in that area as well as Duenes has a team-high six followed by Hjalmarsson with five while Aymaro Vargas has four. Four other Skyhawks have a pair while two others each have one.
 
In goal, Lucas Martin has been the main man in 2023, starting all 12 matches he has played in for 1,079 minutes, making 42 saves and allowing 14 goals for a 1.17 GAA and .750 save percentage while going 8-2-2 with a shutout. Aidan Hartman has played twice with one start in a reserve role, logging 91 minutes and making a pair of saves while allowing three goals.
 
As a unit, FLC has nearly doubled up their opponents in scoring at 32-17 on the year and average close to 2.5 goals per match and outshoot teams 15.5-11.8 on average. They have logged an RMAC-leading 25 assists on their 32 goals and have a combined 44 saves in goal and taken 81 corner kicks, also the most in the RMAC, against just 48 allowed to opponents.
 
SCOUTING ADAMS STATE
Four matches remain in the season for the Grizzlies who have yet to find the win column in 2023 as they look to reverse their fortunes against MSU Denver Friday afternoon before hosting Mines on Sunday. Last weekend, ASU dropped decisions to CSU Pueblo and UCCS by scores of 4-0 and 7-0.
 
Four players have accounted for the team's six goals this season, with Ranulfo Lopez being the only player with multiple goals with three while Emmanuel Kolleh, Jon Marc Messersmith and Kaidin Reese each have one. Four players have also logged an assist for the Grizzlies, as Lopez, Kolleh, Justin Lintonsmith and Tyler Zimbounellis all have one.
 
In goal, Charles Manthe and Zach Carr have split time with the former seeing the bulk of the action. Manthe has started all nine matches in which he has played for 809 minutes, making 54 saves while allowing 32 goals for a 3.56 GAA and .628 save rate against 198 shots faced. Carr has started three times in four matches for 271 minutes, making 16 saves against nine goals allowed for a GAA of 2.99 and a .640 save percentage against 65 shots faced.
 
On the year, ASU has been outscored 41-6 and has been shutout on six occasions. They are allowing 3.42 goals and 21.9 shots per game while putting up less than six shots per match themselves. They have four assists on their six goals and have a combined 70 saves in goal while taking 31 corner kicks and allowing 78.
 
SERIES HISTORY
All-time Fort Lewis leads the series with Mines 32-25-8 but the Orediggers have won six in a row including the last two meetings in Durango, where they have historically struggled to find success with a mark of 8-19-4 on the road in the series. Last season, Mines won 3-1 in Golden. Against Adams State, the Orediggers are just one match shy of perfection, leading the series 21-1-0 and entering play Sunday winners of the last 15 against the Grizzlies and unbeaten in 10 previous trips to Alamosa. Last year Mines posted an 8-0 win in Golden and dating back to 2015, has outscored ASU in the series 34-4 with eight shutouts.
 
LOOKING AHEAD
Mines heads to MSU Denver next Wednesday night before taking on Colorado Christian at home in their regular season finale next Sunday.
 
Fans can keep up with Mines men's soccer on Twitter and Instagram at @MinesMSOC and @mines_msoc. They can also keep up with Colorado School of Mines Athletics all year long on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram using the handle @MinesAthletics.