Mines (0-1-4) vs #3 CSU Pueblo (5-0-1) – Thursday, 7 p.m. – Golden, Colo. [Live Stats] [RMAC Network]
Mines (0-1-4) vs Westminster (2-2-2) – Sunday, 12 p.m. – Golden, Colo. [Live Stats] [RMAC Network]

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FAMILIAR FACES ROUND OUT NON-CONFERENCE PLAY
Following a weekend spent in the Pacific Northwest, the Colorado School of Mines men's soccer team returns to Stermole Stadium this week to host a pair of Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference opponents in non-conference action, taking on #3 CSU Pueblo Thursday night before matching up against Westminster Sunday afternoon.
 
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.
 
WEEK 3 RECAP
Still in search of their first win of the season, Mines headed to the Evergreen State last weekend to take on Western Washington and Seattle Pacific. The trip didn't get off to the desired start, as the Vikings picked up a 3-0 win Thursday night, but the Orediggers rebounded Saturday against the Falcons, as Mark Zimmerman was able to force a turnover deep in SPU's own end and subsequently scored to help Mines bounce back and earn a 1-1 draw.
 
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 84-20-16 overall with a mark of 57-3-6 in RMAC play. His overall winning percentage through the 2022 season ranks #3 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.
 
IN THE POLLS
In the latest United Soccer Coaches Top 25 announced Tuesday, Mines didn't earn in any votes this week, but several RMAC rivals remain in the national discussion as CSU Pueblo moved up one spot from fourth to third, while UCCS dropped all the way to 25th from 14th last week while Colorado Mesa started gaining votes this week. Early season opponents Cal Poly Pomona and Can State San Bernardino remain ranked at #14 and #21 respectively. 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.
 
ART OF THE DRAW
Mines is known worldwide for being one of the top STEM schools out there, but through the first five matches, if you didn't know better, the Orediggers could be mistaken for art majors. Through their first five matches of the season, Mines has played to a draw four times, surpassing their total number of draws in each of the last two seasons and tying for the most since 2019 and marking just the sixth time in program history going back to 1976 they have had that many in a single season. The record for most draws in a season is five, which happened back in 2004.
 
SEEKING THE ELUSIVE
While playing to a draw isn't the worst possible outcome, the Orediggers sure would like to roll that zero in the win column over to a one. Mines isn't used to being this far into the season and still looking to break the seal; in fact, the last time the Orediggers went this far into a season without a win was all the way back in 1997. That year, it took Mines eight matches to finally break into the win column following an 0-6-1 start to year. Hopefully playing on home turf this weekend provides the edge needed to break through for win number one in 2023.
 
ZUPER ZIMMERMAN
Second-year Oredigger Marc Zimmerman has gotten off to a fast start in 2023, scoring a goal in three of the first five matches for Mines including the equalizer in Saturday night's matchup with Seattle Pacific. The native of Germany leads the team with three goals and is tied for fourth in the RMAC with two other players when it comes to scoring. The Orediggers will continue to turn to him as the season moves along to maintain his scoring output and help lead the way on offense.
 
CHECKING THE STATS
Marc Zimmerman is the club house leader with three goals and ranks among the RMAC leaders in scoring this season as a result, while Chris Seery and Nathan Dreher each have a goal to their ledgers this season. John Burnett, Quin Collins and Alex Gonzalez have all contributed as well, as each has an assist heading into the weekend.
 
In goal, Caden Allaire has started all five matches and played all 450 minutes, logging 19 saves, tied for fourth in the RMAC, against eight goals allowed for a GAA of 1.60 and a .704 save percentage against 66 shots faced as he owns a record of 0-4-1.
 
As a team, Mines has been outscored this season 8-5 and outshot 66-53 for an average of 13.2-10.6 per match. They have three assists on those five goals and 19 saves in goal while attempting 18 corner kicks against 33 from their opponents.
 
SCOUTING CSU PUEBLO
While the Orediggers are yet without a win in 2023, the ThunderWolves are yet without a loss as last season's national runners-up have started 5-0-1 and are winners of their last four matches, including a 3-1 win over #13 Rogers State last Thursday and a 4-0 win over Oklahoma Christian on Saturday.
 
The RMAC's leading scorer Gabriel Campora heads up the offense for CSUP with seven goals along with two assists for 16 points and is one of four players with multiple goals alongside Ricardo Schroeder, Jr. (3), Shjon Andrews (2) and Dylan Zavatini (2). An additional four players each have one goal apiece this season. When it comes to assists, no one has been better among RMAC teams than Caio Olivera who has helped out on six scores this season, while Ignatius DeMark has a pair alongside Campora with an additional five players logging one each.
 
In goal, Tristan Whitlock has been the starting man four times and logged 306 minutes with a 4-0-0 record with one solo shutout, posting a GAA of 0.29 and an .833 save percentage, making five stops while allowing one goal against 16 shots faced. Ruben Volkert has also played in four matches, starting twice including last Saturday against OCU and logged 234 minutes to post a 1-0-1 record with a GAA of 1.92 and a .375 save percentage, allowing five goals against three saves while facing 14 shots. The duo have combined for two shutouts on the season.
 
Collectively, CSUP has outscored teams 18-6 and have done so on 12.5 shots per game while allowing just 5.0. they have 15 assists on those 18 goals and their keepers have made eight saves while they have logged 29 corner kicks against 18 for opponents. One item in particular to keep an eye on is yellow cards, as the ThunderWolves have 17 in six matches and picked up three along with a red card the last time they played the Orediggers.
 
SCOUTING WESTMINSTER
Westminster is coming off an 0-1-1 weekend, losing last time out to Cal State Monterey Bay 2-1 on Sunday after playing San Francisco State to a scoreless draw Friday and come to Golden this weekend still looking for their first road win of 2023.
 
Five different players are responsible for WU's scoring output this year, as Jack Cardwell leads the way with a pair while Armin Hasanovic, Landon Ward, Lute Maja and Ole Songe each have one. Three members of that group also account for the team's four assists to date, with Hasanovic leading the team with two while Cardwell and Ward have a single tally to their ledgers.
 
Roark Looney and Noah Larkin have been tag team partners in goal this season as the Griffins have given both starting nods. Looney has started all four of his appearances for 360 minutes and is 1-2-1 with a shutout and a GAA of 1.50 and a .647 save percentage, making 11 saves against six goals while facing 34 total shots. Larkin has started twice and played all 180 minutes in those matches, also making 11 saves against three goals for a 1.50 GAA but a .786 save percentage as he has gone 1-0-1 with a shutout against 26 shots faced.
 
As a unit, the Griffins have been outscored by opponents 9-7, giving up three goals in a game on two occasions and are being outshot 10.0-8.3 per contest. They have four assists on their seven goals while their keepers have combined for 22 saves. Westminster also leads the RMAC in corner kicks this season, putting up 39 in their first six games of the season while allowing just 15.
 
SERIES HISTORY
All-time against CSU Pueblo, Mines is 41-13-7 but hasn't picked up an outright win since September 29, 2019 as they've gone 0-4-3 in the last seven matches, including last year's thrilling RMAC Tournament title match that finished tied at 3-3 after overtime with the Orediggers winning 9-8 in penalties. At home in the series, Mines is 23-6-2 all-time, but has dropped the previous three contests at home with their last win coming back in 2019. When it comes to Westminster, Mines is 15-6-3 and has won the last three meetings and 10 of the previous 11, including both games last year with a 2-1 win in Salt Lake City and 4-0 win on the final day of the regular season in Golden. The Orediggers are 9-3-1 all-time at home against the Griffins, last losing on home turf back in 1994.
 
LOOKING AHEAD
Following this weekend at home to close out the non-conference slate, the men's team will begin RMAC action next weekend, following the path of the women's program as they'll head to UCCS Thursday September 28 before heading to Pueblo to open the month of October for the second meeting in as many weeks with the ThunderWolves.
 
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.