GOLDEN, Colo. – For the second Sunday in a row, the Colorado School of Mines women's soccer team took the field at Stermole Stadium against Colorado Mesa, only this time doing so in the second round of the 2023 NCAA Division II Women's Soccer Championship. Despite an overwhelming advantage on the stat sheet as well as the eye test, the Orediggers (15-4-3) came out on the wrong end of the scoreboard once again, as a late goal in the second overtime period by the Mavericks (18-3-1) continued their postseason run as they advanced to the third round of the national tournament with a 1-0 result after extra time.
 
Ellise Putnam rattled the Mavericks' cage early, literally speaking as the first shot of the day just 97 seconds in tracked just a little too high and caromed off the crossbar as Mines was in the business of sending a message early that Sunday would be a whole different ball game than the previous week. Three more shots for the Orediggers followed in succession before Kylie Wells put up a shot on goal for CMU in the ninth minute that was easily handled by Allie Lundgren.
 
Mines kept their foot on the gas, controlling the possession battle throughout the half as the shots kept mounting. Kaitlyn Manalili and Laura Butler had consecutive looks around the 33rd minute but Keely Wieczorek was there to make the save on each shot as she faced down a busy day in goal. Three more shots came before the intermission, but none found their mark as it remained scoreless after 45 minutes.
 
The offense attack from the Orediggers didn't let up as play resumed in the second half, with six shots coming in the first 15 minutes including a laser from Reese McDermott in the 61st minute that Wieczorek managed to save. The battle in the midfield continued to be as good of one as anyone could have asked for with both teams trading blows in the battle to gain an advantage. Mines' midfielders and back line players also played a role in helping set up the offense as proved by Ava Harman getting a look at goal in the 80th minute but also coming away empty as the score remained 0-0 at the end of regulation with Mines leading 21-4 on the shot chart.
 
With 90 minutes not enough to determine a winner, another 20 would be needed. As per the new overtime rules implemented last season, no golden goal would end the game as both 10-minute extra periods would be played out. Harman teed one up again in the 94th minute, again coming up empty as did both Butler and Bella Campos. In the second overtime period, Afton Rasco played one of the best shots of the day following a corner kick in the 103rd minute, but needed to aim just a little more to the right as her volley connected with the left post on another near-miss. Following a Cloey Seltzer shot on goal, Colorado Mesa was able to finally get behind the Mines defense in the 107th minute, as Adessa Correa went on a run and played a ball to Sauvelyne Randel, who played a shot to the right post past the dive of Lundgren for the go-ahead score. A furious rally in the final minutes from Mines saw their best chance come on a free kick from McDermott in the final minute, but it missed high and right as the Mavericks eked out the win to extend their season.
 
NOTABLES
-Mines outshot CMU 29-6 in the match and 7-2 in shots on goal including several near misses off the woodwork of goal
-Seltzer led the way with six shot attempts while Butler and McDermott each had five
-Lundgren finished with one save in goal in her first start of the season and second of her career
-The Orediggers finish the season with a record of 15-4-3, marking the 15th time the program has recorded double-digit wins and is the 11th season with at least 15 wins
-Collen Tyrrell, Brook Patterson, Brooke Pennington, Michelle Easley, Landry Corbett, Kate Clady and Emma Carstens end their careers with an overall record of 57-13-12 with an RMAC divisional title, a regular season title, two RMAC tournament titles and four NCAA Tournament appearances
-Corbett closes her career having played in 76 matches with 50 starts with five goals and 16 assists for 26 points and three game-winning goals in 3,521 minutes; her 16 assists will place her two behind fifth all-time in program history
-Campos concludes her freshman campaign with 16 goals and four assists for 36 points in 904 minutes with three game-winners; her 16 goals are fourth-most in a single season in program history while her 36 points are good for fifth, passing Megan Woodworth's 35 in 2012
-McDermott's continued her climb up the all-time lists this season, scoring 11 times with a career-best eight assists for 30 points with four game-winners in 1,340 minutes; she now has 34 goals and 12 assists for 80 points in her career with 11 game-winners in 3,381 minutes and finishes the year fourth all-time in goals scored, points, game-winning goals, shots taken (209) and shots on goal (99)
-Sadie Wolf's 18 career shutouts, including 10 this season, are also good for fourth all-time at Mines, as is her career goals against average of 0.60 in 2,685:52 minutes played
-As a team this season, Mines scored 59 goals, matching their total from 2012 to tie for fourth-most in a single season while their 52 assists are one shy of the most in a season in program history
-The Orediggers' 22.6 shots per match are a new single-season high, eclipsing the previous mark of 20.9 set in 2017 by nearly two full shots per match while their 2.36 assists per match are also atop the charts for most in a season all-time
-Mines also took 128 corners kicks, now the fourth-most in a season all-time while their 12 goals allowed are tied for fourth-fewest in a season along with 2012 and 2017 while their 15 shutouts are tied for second-most in a season, matching last season's total along with 2016 and 2012; their 10-match shutout streak from October 5-November 8 is now the longest in program history by two, breaking a record that had stood since 2014
-Head coach Kevin Fickes now holds a career record of 224-41-38 (.802) through 14 seasons at the helm in Golden

UP NEXT
The Orediggers will begin their offseason programming beginning Monday. Stay tuned to minesathletics.com for additional information about awards to be released in the coming weeks.
 
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.