#21 Mines (0-0-0) at Cal State Monterey Bay (0-0-0) – Friday, 7 p.m. PT – Seaside, Calif. [Live Stats] [CCAA Network]

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IT'S GOOD TO BE BACK
After a long offseason, the reigning RMAC champions will begin their title defense in 2023 with a trip out west for a single match on the first weekend of the season as they'll take on Cal State Monterrey Bay in the season opener for both teams.
 
LIVE COVERAGE
Live stats for Friday's match will be available for free while pay-per-view live video will be available on the CCAA Network.
 
2022 RECAP
The Orediggers went 13-5-3 overall and 9-1-0 in RMAC action a season ago, as they swept both the league's regular season and tournament titles, securing the latter in a 10-round penalty shootout after playing to a 3-3 draw after overtime. Mines returned to the NCAA Tournament for the 11th time, getting a bye to the second round before having their season ended 3-1 against Cal State Dominguez Hills.
 
Head coach Greg Mulholland was named RMAC Coach of the Year while six Orediggers earned All-RMAC honors and Michael Sprauer was named Academic Player of the Year. Tristan Semelsberger and Lucas King, both first team all-conference honorees, also garnered All-American laurels last season as well.
 
Semelsberger was one of the top scorers in the league last season, scoring 14 times, six of which were game winners, with two assists in 21 matches and logging 1,485 minutes. Sprauer scored seven goals in 20 matches and logged over 1,600 minutes while Azad Iliozer, one of two players to start all 21 matches last fall, scored six times with five assists in 1,252 minutes. Chris Seery found the back of the net five times while assisting on an additional three while Gabriel Rodriguez (4), Quin Collins and Marc Levin (2) each had multiple goals while five other Orediggers each scored once.
 
In net, it was all Brian Doherty until he went down with a season-ending injury on the eve of the postseason, as the senior went 10-4-2 between the pipes with 47 saves and seven shutouts with a 0.98 GAA. Backup Kenneth Symmes appeared in eight matches and started four, posting a 3-1-1 record and putting up 20 saves and a shutout with a 1.36 GAA.
 
Checking the numbers from 2022, Mines went 7-3-1 at Stermole Stadium and 6-2-2 on the road. They outscored the opposition 45-23 over the course of the season, scoring 2.14 goals per game and outshooting other teams 335-228. 34 assists were recorded on those 45 goals, while 67 saves were made as a team in net.
 
NEW FACES
11 newcomers join the program in Golden for the 2023 season, featuring a trio of transfers including two from the Division I ranks in Ayman Bushara (Air Force) and Luke Hanna (Tulsa). Eight freshmen join the mix as well from Maryland to Texas and Minnesota to Georgia as well as points in between. Get to know the newest Orediggers by reviewing the 2023 Signing Class here.
 
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 five years at the helm, Mulholland 84-18-11 overall with a mark of 57-3-6 in RMAC play. His overall winning percentage through the 2021 season ranks #1 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.
 
WELCOME BACK
14 members from last year's RMAC championship club are back with the program this fall, headlined by top returning scorers Chris Seery and Gabriel Rodriguez, who scored five and four goals respectively in 2022. Quin Collins, the man who scored in each of Mines' RMAC tournament matches last season, and Marc Levin, who converted the trophy-winning penalty kick in the 10th round of the title match, are also back.
 
IN THE POLLS
In the first United Soccer Coaches Poll of the season, the Orediggers saw themselves ranked among the best in the country ahead of the start of 2023 at #21. Two other opponents on this year's slate also open the season ranked, with CSU Pueblo #2 and Cal Poly Pomona #22. 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.
 
SCOUTING CAL STATE MONTEREY BAY
The Otters are coming off a 2022 season in which they went 8-8-2 overall and 6-5-0 in the CCAA, good for a fourth-place finish in the standings and an appearance in the league tournament before bowing in the first round against Chico State.
 
All four multi-goal scorers from last season are back this fall led by Roberto Banegas, netted seven goals, three of which were game-winners, along with an assist. Miguel Guerrero, Javier Romero and Mason Ward each scored three times this year. Combined, that quartet scored 16 of the Otters' 21 goals in 2022.
 
Colin O'Mahony, who led CSUMB with four assists last fall has moved on, leaving Janos Kommerling as the leading returner in that department with three along with Romero and Garrett Hayes who each had a pair.
 
In goal, 17-match starter Matthias Milton and reserve Jack Blickenstaff are both back and joined by newcomer Sean Mattivi. Milton appeared in 18 total matches last season, logging 1,483 minutes and making 36 saves against 125 shots faced, allowing 22 goals and posting a 1.33 GAA along with six shutouts and a 7-7-2 record. Blickenstaff went 1-1-0 in limited time last year, logging 137 minutes and making three saves while also allowing three goals.
 
As a team last season, CSUMB was outscored by the opposition 25-21 in 18 matches, scoring 1.17 goals per contest despite putting up 12 shots per game and allowing only 7.6. They tallied 19 assists on those 21 goals and attempted 99 corner kicks while going 1-2 from the penalty spot on the year.
 
SERIES HISTORY
Friday night will be the fourth meeting all-time between the Orediggers and Otters and second in as many years as Mines will make the return trip to Seaside this season after dropping a 2-1 decision last season. The Orediggers did win the first two meetings of the series, collecting a 4-2 win in 2017 at home before knocking off CSUMB 2-1 in double overtime in 2018 on the road.
 
LOOKING AHEAD
Following Friday night's match, the Orediggers will return to Golden for a pair of matches against teams from California, first battling Cal Poly Pomona on Friday September 8 before taking on Cal State San Bernadino on Sunday September 10.
 
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.