GUNNISON, Colo. – Taking the pitch at Katy O. Rady Field with fall colors on full display Sunday, the top-ranked Colorado School of Mines women's soccer team looked to close out the first of two four-match road trips the right way against Western Colorado. The Orediggers (11-0-1, 5-0-1) scored first and never looked back with three different players finding the net against the Mountaineers (3-5-3, 2-1-2) on their way to a 3-0 win.
 
Mines wasted little time taking the lead as in just the sixth minute, Resse McDermott scored for the third consecutive match. The Houston native scooped up an errant pass by WCU off a throw in around midfield before racing up the center of the field and dishing it out wide to Cloey Seltzer in the near corner. Seltzer then passed it back to McDermott, who proceeded to find space while surrounded by four Mountaineer defenders for an easy finish with her right foot to go ahead early.
 
After being denied in the 12th minute, McDermott looked to double the lead in the 28th as she had a pair of chances from inside the penalty area, but was turned away by the defense and Aubree Orosco as the first shot was blocked before the second made its way through but was saved thanks to a diving effort to keep it a one-score contest. Bella Campos took aim moments later as she got behind the defense thanks to a long ball from deep in the Orediggers' defensive end, but Orosco came off her line to make her fourth save of the half.
 
Natsuki Murakami had the first look of the day for Western in the 34th minute, but her attempt missed wide left of goal.
 
The Orediggers finally did double their lead right before the half in the 41st minute. An attempt to clear the ball by the Mountaineers resulted in a Mines throw in on the far side of the field in front of their own bench. Jolie Jiricek restarted the action as she put the ball back in play to Bella Campos, who gathered the ball before racing across the top of the penalty area and firing a shot from the outer edge of the arc, going top shelf just inside the near post to make it a 2-0 advantage heading to the break.
 
Laura Butler made it a three-score game in the 71st minute following a short corner kick from Cloey Seltzer. After receiving the kick, Butler fired a long shot from outside the far edge of the penalty area that at first glance looked like it may have cleared back into play by the defense as play continued, but a quick stop by the center referee after a likely confirmation from the near side assistant referee of the ball crossing into the goal before the clearance.
 
Leading by three with 20 minutes to go, Mines kept pressing their attack as McDermott, Butler and Campos kept stacking the shots and forcing WCU to stay on the defensive instead of trying to organize a counterattack.
 
One final round of subs preceded the last 10 minutes of action as Allie Lundgren called it a day, turning things over to Sadie Wolf in her return to action while Gabriela Rodríguez, Lindsay Jeans and Izzy Sontheimer were also among the late changes to help close out the 11th win of the season for Mines, posting a 3-0 result for the second Sunday in a row.
 
NOTABLES
-McDermott's goal was her fifth in the last three matches and is the second time this season she has recorded a scoring streak of at least three matches; the senior now has ## game-winning goals and cements her hold on third all-time after passing Megan Woodworth (2009-12) Friday night
-The RMAC scoring leader now has 13 goals this season, two shy of tying her career-best mark of 15 which came during the 2022 season
-McDermott now has 47 career goals and is three shy of becoming just the third 50-goal scorer in program history, as she would look to join Anna Evans (2010-13) and Kayla Mitchell (2006-09)
-Campos notched her fifth tally of the season before the intermission for her third goal in the last five matches for the Orediggers
-The sophomore raised her career scoring total to 20, putting her one behind Brooke Stoermer (2014-17) for seventh all-time as well as bumping her point total to 49, two behind Stoermer for eighth
-Butler found the net for the second time in 2024 and for the first time since September 15 against West Texas A&M, carding the 13th goal of her tenure at Mines and raising her points haul to 36
-Sam Forde made her first career start Sunday afternoon, logging 42 minutes of action
-Lundgren and Wolf combined for the shutout in goal that allowed four shots, with Wolf making the lone save of the afternoon on a shot off a free kick by Cianna Thomas
-The Orediggers teed up a season-high 34 shots in the match with 12 going on target
 
UP NEXT
The Orediggers return to Stermole Stadium next week to host Colorado Christian and the MSU Denver.
 
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.