GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. – Playing their penultimate match of the 2023 regular season, the #14 Colorado School of Mines women's soccer team braved the elements Thursday night in a battle of Top 15 teams in Division II against fourth-ranked Colorado Mesa. Continued set piece success set the table in the first half for the Orediggers (12-2-3, 8-1-2), who scored first and never looked back, adding three more goals in the second half to hand the Mavericks (12-2-1, 7-2-1) just their second loss of the season with a 4-0 win.
 
The Orediggers went to work early against freshman netminder Keely Wieczorek, as Reese McDermott and Laura Butler along with Cloey Seltzer had some good looks at the night's first goal in the first nine minutes of play and despite coming up empty, set the tone early on.
 
As the rain kept falling, the shots kept coming for Mines as for most of the first half, the ball rarely crossed midfield in possession of Colorado Mesa. The fourth-ranked Mavericks didn't have a shot until the 18th minute and added two more in the moments that followed, but the Orediggers' defense did what they have all year in disrupting those looks, as two of the three shots were blocked while the third sailed high over goal.
 
The first real chance of the night CMU had came in the 26th minute from their leading scorer Sauvelyne Randel about eight minutes after she subbed into the match, but Sadie Wolf was there to make the save and send it back the other way.
 
In the 33rd minute the aggressiveness of the Mines offense resulted in the night's first goal. After a CMU defender was whistled for a foul on Bella Campos, Ava Harman lined up for a free kick on the far side of the field just about equidistant between the sideline and the edge of the 18-yard box. She played it across to the near side of the six-yard box into a crowd of bodies and was able to find none other than Natalie Rouse, who out-leaped the opposition to finish things off with a header back across the face of goal inside the far post to put Mines out front.
 
The final 12 minutes of the half saw each team attempt just one more shot, battling the elements just as much as each other as they went to the intermission with the Orediggers ahead 1-0.
 
With the resumption of play in the second half, the Orediggers kept up the pressure on offense with three more shots, including two on target, in the first 14 minutes of the period but weren't able to add onto the lead.
 
That sequence was highlighted by a free kick following a foul on McDermott just outside the top of the box and saw Cloey Seltzer line up a shot and go for the second goal of the night in the 53rd minute, but Wieczorek was able to make the diving save and get lucky as the second-chance shot from Rouse off the rebound missed off-target over the crossbar.
 
Colorado Mesa looked to draw even around the 69-minute mark, putting up four shot attempts with three coming from Abby Fotheringham, but none made it to their destination as two were blocked and two missed their mark wide left and high over the top.
 
In the 74th minute, Mines was on the attack once again and after shots by Landry Corbett and Bella Campos were blocked, McDermott was able to come up with ball, stealing it away from a Maverick defender before putting on a footwork exhibition to evade five CMU defenders before finishing with her left foot to double the lead to 2-0.
 
Not even 10 minutes later, Campos all but put things out of reach as a clear out of the Orediggers' defensive end by Corbett found its way to the freshman from Texas, who beat a CMU defender with quick juke move before racing down the field winning a one-on-one with the keeper Wieczorek for the goal to make it 3-0 in the 82nd minute.
 
With time winding down and the outcome well in hand, Mines managed to cash in one final time in the 90th minute. After a misplayed clear attempt by the Mavericks saw the Orediggers win back possession, Paola Rubi played it back out the far sideline to Seltzer who raced up the field and past a defender, pulling up from just inside the corner of the penalty area and going top shelf against a diving save attempt to cap off the 4-0 win.
 
NOTABLES
-Rouse's goal was her sixth of the season, all of which have come on set pieces and teamed up with Harman on a scoring play for the fourth time this season
-Harman's assist now gives her seven on the season, tied for second on the team
-McDermott is on the cusp of back-to-back 10 goal seasons now with her ninth of 2023 in the second half; she's now scored 32 times in her career and trails Megan Woodworth (2009-12) for third all-time in scoring by six, but still has ground to make up to catch Woodworth in points, trailing 120-75 as she ranks fourth all-time in that category
-Campos' goal give her 11 on the season, just three back of Anna Evans (2013) for fifth-most in a single season with 14 and now elevates her to the RMAC lead in scoring this season over the Regis duo of Natalie Bunch and freshman of the year candidate Madeline Gardner
-Seltzer's third goal of the season sets a new single-season career high mark, eclipsing the two she scored in the spring 2021 season as a freshman; it is also the latest regulation goal in program history, officially checking in at 89:46, seven seconds later than Kayla Mitchell's goal at 89:39 against New Mexico Highlands back in 2009
-Wolf's four-save shutout was the 15th of her career and seventh of the season, now just one shy of her mark of eight from 2022, and now puts her just two behind Sam Zumbro (2013-16) for fourth all-time
-Mines ended the night with a 20-18 edge in shots and 9-4 advantage in shots on goal
-Defensively, the Orediggers have posted seven shutouts in a row, not allowing a goal in their last 716:08 of action; the last goal allowed came at the 3:52 mark back on October 1 against Regis
-The streak of seven consecutive shutouts is now the second-longest such run program history, trailing only a run of eight that took place from October 17-November 16 of 2014
-Looking at the standings, Mines extended their lead and now has 26 points with CMU, Regis and UCCS all tied for second with 22 points each
 
UP NEXT
The Orediggers conclude their regular season schedule Sunday at 2:30 p.m. in Salt Lake City against Westminster. They will then wait and see how the final day of conference play next Wednesday November 1 plays out to know their official postseason plans.
 
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.