GOLDEN, Colo. – In need of win to remain in the hunt for the 2023 postseason with just six matches left in the regular season, the Colorado School of Mines took the field at Stermole Stadium Sunday for the second time in as many weeks against Westminster, looking for a reversal of fortune from the first meeting of the year. Fortunately, fate smiled on the Orediggers (2-4-5, 1-2-1) as Chris Seery and Marc Zimmerman each scored while a late rally from the Griffins (6-4-2, 3-1-0) came up one goal short in the end as three big points went the way of Mines in a 2-1 win.
 
The match seemingly started off the same way it did the first time this season, with both sides feeling the other out in the early going although the Mines offense wasn't able to meet the same level of early shot attempts as previously. Instead it was Westminster who had the first three shots before Caelin David put one on frame in the 19th minute but was denied by Noah Larkin.
 
Opportunities remained scarce as the half went on, with just two shots in the interim following David's try until Seery struck gold in the 44th minute. After a foul on Westminster was awarded a free kick, Alex Gonzalez lined up over the ball in front of the Griffins bench from about 40 yards out and played a fantastic ball into the box, where it looked to initially be punched away by Larkin who lost his footing on the landing before landing at the feet of Seery, who with his back to the goal, flipped a shot up and over his shoulder with the left foot past an attempted deflection by a defender to score the first goal of the day and make it 1-0 Mines heading to the half.
 
Things turned chippy and the aggression level rose in the second half as yellow cards began flying both ways to those on the field as well as the benches. It was following the fourth card of the series that Gonzalez looked to score in the 53rd and 57th minutes, but his first career goal would have to wait a little longer as the save was made both times.
 
Shortly after subbing in with just under 30 minutes to play, Zimmerman looked to double the lead, first in the 68th minute before getting the advantage on Larkin in the 74th. Ian Kugler collected a pass from Carter Jansen off a WU turnover and began streaking up the sideline in front of the Oredigger bench before playing it ahead to Zimmerman, who finished it off with a stellar header to the right of Larkin for his fourth goal of the season to make it 2-0.
 
Now trailing by a pair, Westminster made wholesale substitutions and immediately went to work trying to eat into the deficit, putting up a shot against Caden Allaire in the 76th minute but coming up empty. A turning point in the action came moments later in the 77th minute, when the Griffins' Brayden Reid was sent off with a red card, leaving the visitors short-handed for the final 13 minutes.
 
The Mines defense did everything they could to stymie Westminster's attack as the substitutions kept coming with the Griffins looking for anything to provide life in the waning moments. That anything  came in the 86th minute when a corner kick in to the box saw three shot attempts in succession, first from Jack Cardwell that resulted in a block before Adam Koblanski banged one point-blank at Allaire, who made the first save but not the second as Koblanski put it in the cage on the third attempt to make it 2-1.
 
The last gasp for the visitors came in the 88th minute when Ole Songe pulled up from near the top of the penalty area and banged a shot off the crossbar, as the Orediggers managed to play it back into their offensive third after that and win the match that mattered with the team that sat second in the RMAC standings entering play, earning three points with the 2-1 result.
 
NOTABLES
-Seery's goal was his third of the season, second in as many matches and 12th of his Mines career
-Zimmerman's goal was his fourth of the season as he remains the team's leading scorer
-Gonzalez continued to add to his team leading assist total with his third of the year
-Kugler notched his first assist of the season on the Zimmerman goal and now has seven in his career at Mines and three in the last two seasons
-Allaire notched three saves in goal and just missed out on his third shutout of the season
-The Orediggers finished with 14 shots on the afternoon with six on goal
-Eight different players logged a shot attempt with four registering at least two
-With the win, Mines is now tied for sixth in the conference standings with Regis at four points, setting the table for a pivotal matchup Thursday night
 
UP NEXT
The Orediggers are back home again next weekend for two matches, first taking on Regis Thursday night at 6 p.m. for Global Oredigger and Faculty & Staff Appreciation Night before taking on South Dakota Mines Sunday October 15 at 12 p.m.
 
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.