#2 Mines (3-0-1, 0-0-0 RMAC) vs. (RV) Western Washington (2-1-0, 0-0-0 GNAC) – Thursday, 7 p.m. – Golden, Colo. [Live Stats] [RMAC Network]
#2 Mines (3-0-1, 0-0-0 RMAC) vs. Seattle Pacific (2-2-0, 0-0-0 GNAC) – Saturday, 6 p.m. – Golden, Colo. [Live Stats] [RMAC Network]

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FINAL TUNEUP
Closing out the final leg of their season-opening six-match home stand, the ## Colorado School of Mines women's soccer team will also conclude the non-conference portion of their schedule as they welcome a pair of teams from the Pacific Northwest, hosting Western Washington Thursday night at 7 p.m. before concluding the weekend against Seattle Pacific Saturday night at 6 p.m.
 
FAN INFORMATION
Tickets are available for pre-purchase at minesathletics.com/tickets as well as on the day of the event at the gate. Parking in Lot K is free after 5 p.m. during the week and on weekends. Additional parking is available in Lot Q located at Elm and West Campus Drive, the parking garage located at 14th and Maple Streets, and in City of Golden municipal parking along 11th Street. Visit mines.edu/parking for a parking map.
 
LIVE COVERAGE
Both matches this weekend will be streamed free of charge on the RMAC Network and will have live stats through SIDEARM.
 
AT THE HELM
Head Coach Kevin Fickes is in his 14th season leading the Mines women's soccer program, already the program's all-time leader in wins at 212-37-36. His .807 career win percentage is currently among the top-10 active NCAA Division II coaches, and on October 6 of last season against Colorado Christian, he became just the second RMAC coach to reach 200 career victories, joining current UCCS boss J.B. Belzer. Entering the 2023 season, Fickes has overseen 27 All-American selections, 13 Academic All-Americans, 69 all-conference honorees, and 21 RMAC major award winners while guiding Mines to six RMAC regular-season titles and nine RMAC Tournament trophies, with 13 consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances.

WEARING THE ARMBAND
The Orediggers have selected a new group of captains for the 2023 season, as Ava Harman, Katie Koehler and Reese McDermott will be wearing the armband this fall. Harman is entering her third season as a starter and scored the first goal of her career in 2022. McDermott was named Third Team All-American to cap off a decorated breakout season in which she was one of the most prolific goal scorers in in the conference, finding the net 15 times as only one of two players with double-digit goals. Koehler, also entering her third season as a starter, was a key piece of a defensive backline last fall that allowed just 0.74 goals and 9.7 shots per match while also scoring four times herself.
 
WEEK 2 REVIEW
The Orediggers posted their third consecutive 4-0 win Thursday night in dominating fashion over Angelo State, outshooting the Rambelles 32-3 over 90 minutes. Ava Harman got the fireworks started with a penalty kick goal just before the intermission while the second half saw Reese McDermott, Cloey Seltzer and Ellise Putnam all find their mark while Landry Corbett and Bella Campos collected assists. Sunday against #3 Dallas Baptist, Mines had their work cut out for them after finding themselves behind after 36 minutes of action. After being outshot 8-5 in the first half and looking a bit uncomfortable against the Patriots, the Orediggers came out a completely different team in the second half, outshooting the opposition 17-0 and scoring twice to earn a 2-2 draw. Natalie Rouse scored her third goal of the season on another set piece, this time heading home a corner kick from Seltzer in the 57th minute before Campos teamed up with McDermott for her third goal of her freshman season to tie things up in the 75th minute.
 
SET PIECE SUCCESS
The set piece component of matches has been a strength for Mines in their first four matches of the season, scoring three times on opening weekend by way of free kicks before adding a corner kick score to the ledger this weekend. Natalie Rouse was responsible for three of those four goals, connecting on two free kicks in the first two matches before adding the aforementioned corner kick goal Sunday. Katie Koehler is responsible for the fourth goal while Ava Harman and Cloey Seltzer lay claim to the four assists on those goals. All four goals have been finished off by headers, proving that Mines student-athletes can put their noggins to use in applications outside the classroom.
 
EARLY SEASON HONORS
For the second time in as many weeks this season, Natalie Rouse was named RMAC Defensive Player of the Week for her efforts against Angelo state and Dallas Baptist. She is the first Mines player since Laura Butler last season win two weekly honors in the same season and first player since Gisella Sawaged in 2019 to win the award in consecutive weeks.
 
RUN IT BACK
26 players return from last season's club including nine starters and two more players who started double digit matches. That group is led by the leading returning scorer in the RMAC Reese McDermott, who was just one of two players league-wide last season with double-digit goals. Three of the top four scorers from last season are also back as Laura Butler and Afton Rasco each scored seven goals in 2022 while Paola Rubi added five more while a further eight goal scorers will all be back in uniform. The goalkeeping situation is on firm footing too, as all three netminders who saw action last fall will be competing for time between the pipes in 2023.
 
IN THE POLLS
The latest United Soccer Coaches Poll was released Tuesday and saw Mines tie their highest-ever ranking in program history, as they checked in at #2 this weekend behind a new number one team in the country Ashland. The last time Mines was ranked this high came all the way back in 2013. This weekend's opponent Western Washington, the preseason #1, fell out of the rankings while last Sunday's opponent Dallas Baptist dropped to #8. Colorado Mesa moved up six spots this week to #17 from their debut last week at #23, while MSU Denver received votes this week. The RMAC Preseason Poll, announced August 16 also had the Orediggers leading the way, as the RMAC coaches picked Mines to repeat as champions with nine first place votes, followed by UCCS, Regis, Westminster and MSU Denver in the top five.

CLIMBING THE RANKS
Not even two full seasons into her time as an Oredigger, Reese McDermott has penned her name into the record books when it comes to career marks; her 24 career goals are now good for sole possession of fifth all-time and trails Nicole LaTourette (2016-19) by just three. In addition, her 54 points are now tied for fifth all-time with Emily Garnier (2014-17). Her seven game-winning goals are tied for sixth in program history with Erin Onat (2008-11) and Caitlin Kaltenbaugh (2013-16), while she is now fourth all-time in single-season goals with 15, two behind Anna Evans' 17 in 2012. When it comes to shutouts, Sadie Wolf now has 10 in her young career and has now passed Penny Rogers (2008-11) for sixth all-time and now trails Sierra Roth (2018-21) by two.
 
SIBLING RIVALRY
For those paying attention to the Thursday night match between Mines and Western Washington, you may see the same name on both sides of the stat sheet. Twin sisters Kaitlyn Manalili and Morgan Manalili will line up against each other for the second time in their collegiate careers as both enter their true sophomore seasons. Last year, it was Morgan who got the upper hand in head-to-head action, scoring the game-winner in the second minute as the Vikings ended the Orediggers' season in the NCAA Division II quarterfinals last fall. She also won GNAC Freshman of the Year honors in 2022 and both the team and conference with 25 points on 10 goals and five assists. Meanwhile at Mines, Kaitlyn has started three of the first four matches this season and six of 26 in her career to date, while picking up a pair of assists late in the season last year. Suffice to say, this matchup will be one to keep an eye on over the course of the action Thursday night.
 
LOOKING AT THE STATS
Four matches into the 2023 season, Mines has put up some stout numbers on the stat sheet. Already nine players have scored a goal this season with three scoring two or more. Bella Campos and Natalie Rouse lead the way with three goals apiece while Cloey Seltzer has two. 10 different Orediggers also have an assist this season, with Ava Harman atop the leaderboard with three while Reese McDermott has two while eight others each have one.
 
In goal, Sadie Wolf has been the starter in all four matches and has four saves against two goals allowed with a 0.67 GAA and a .667 save percentage. The sophomore is 3-0-0 with two solo shutouts and has faced just 19 shots in 270 minutes. Freshman Keira Garcia has seen second half action in two matches, logging 90 total minutes and making one save while not allowing a goal.
 
As a team, Mines has outscored opponents 14-2, averaging 3.5 goals and 26.0 shots per game while allowing just 0.50 goals and 6.0 shots per game. The Orediggers have also put up 104 shots on the season, 47 of which have been on frame while the opposition has posted just 24 and seven. Mines also has logged 13 assists on 14 goals while goalies have combined for five saves. When it comes to corner kicks, the Orediggers also hold an 18-8 advantage over opponents on the season.
 
SCOUTING WESTERN WASHINGTON
The defending national champions are off to a 2-1-0 start to the season, going on the road knocking off Biola in their season opener 2-0 before falling to then #17 Concordia Irvine 4-0. WWU did rebound in their single match last weekend, defeating #22 Cal State Los Angeles 1-0 in their home opener.
 
Three different players have scored for the Vikings in their three matches, as Gracen Crosby, Mie Cairns and Minji Rauch account for the balance of offensive output, while Crosby, Morgan Manalili and Emily Rice each have an assist to their ledger.
 
In goal, WWU has utilized two keepers to date with Abigail Trengrove getting the starting nod on two occasions, allowing four goals while making six saves for a GAA of 2.00 and a .600 save percentage against 21 shots faced. Claire Henninger has started once and made three saves in the shutout win over CSLA last weekend.
 
As a team in the early going, Western Washington has scored three times while putting up 27 shots with 11 on goal and are averaging just nine shots per contest. They have three assists and their goalies have combined for nine saves, while opponents hold a 12-6 advantage in corner kicks.
 
SCOUTING SEATTLE PACIFIC
The Falcons are 2-2 after two weekends, going 1-1 each time out with wins over Westminster (3-2) and San Francisco State (1-0) while falling the Cal Poly Humboldt (4-3) and Chico State (1-0).
 
Five different players account for the six goals credited to SPU this season (the sixth was an own goal against Westminster) as Jacqueline Blakeley leads the team early with a pair while Lauren Forster, Marissa Bankey, Chloe Gellhaus and Moira MacKay each have one. Sophie Beadle leads the club with two assists, while Forster and Taylor Krueger each adding one.
 
Between the pipes, it has been all Landry Schoennauer, starting all four matches and playing all 360 minutes, making 14 saves against seven goals with a 1.75 GAA and a .667 save percentage.
 
As a team, SPU has scored times this season as have their opponents and hold a slight 47-45 edge in shots and are also even with the opposition with 21 shots on goal. They have four assists as a team and 14 saves in goal and have a 23-16 lead in corner kicks on the season.
 
SERIES HISTORY
Against Western Washington, Mines is 1-3-1 all-time with the lone win in the series coming in Golden back in 2019 by a score of 2-1. When playing at home the Orediggers are 1-1-1 in the series, with the last meeting being a scoreless draw in 2021. The Vikings won the single contest last season in the NCAA Tournament between the two teams, as the regular season meeting in Bellingham was cancelled on account of poor air quality. Against Seattle Pacific, Mines won the first-ever meeting between the two schools last fall in Seattle by a score of 2-0. Saturday night will be the first meeting between the teams in Golden.
 
LOOKING AHEAD
Mines hits the road for the first time in 2023 next weekend to begin Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference play, heading to UCCS Thursday September 21 for a 7 p.m. tilt before squaring off with CSU Pueblo Sunday September 24 at 1 p.m.
 
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.