Mines (2-9-1. 1-2-1) at Regis (5-2-5, 4-0-0) – Thursday, 6 p.m. – Denver, Colo. [Live Stats] [RMAC Network]
Mines (2-9-1, 1-2-1) at South Dakota Mines (1-8-2, 1-1-2) – Sunday, 1 p.m.– Rapid city, S.D. [Live Stats] [RMAC Network]

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LOCAL AND LONG DISTANCE
Coming off a four-point haul on the first leg of their two-week road trip, the Colorado School of Mines men's soccer team will continue Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference action this weekend first with a short trip down I-70 to take on Regis Thursday evening before heading north for a Sunday afternoon matchup with South Dakota Mines.
 
LIVE COVERAGE
Both matches this weekend will be streamed free of charge on the RMAC Network. Free live stats will be available for both matches. Links for video and stats for both matches can be found on minesathletics.com.
 
WEEK 6 RECAP
It was a much-needed set of results for the Orediggers last weekend as they opened their road trip with matchups against Colorado Mesa and Westminster, netting a 2-1 win over the Mavericks Thursday before rallying for a 1-1 draw with the Griffins Sunday.
 
Thursday in Grand Junction, it was the Gabriel Rodriguez show for the second time this season as the senior turned in his second two-goal performance of the season, in the second half, including a go-ahead penalty kick in the final 10 minutes to pick up three points with the winning effort. Smith Russell collected his first collegiate assist in the match while Peter Saunders made three saves in goal.
 
Sunday in Salt Lake City, Mines went behind just six minutes in against Westminster but regathered themselves to grit out a point with a draw. Rodriguez drew a foul in the final 67 seconds inside the penalty area, allowing Ayman Bushara to convert the equalizer. Saunders made four saves in goal while the defense made it tough sledding for the final 84 minutes as the Griffins couldn't add to their early advantage.
 
RULES RESET
It wasn't too long ago that the NCAA implemented new changes to the soccer rules with the last set of changes coming in 2022. Now in 2024, there's been more tweaks to the rulebook, including at least a partial revision of one of the 2022 changes. First up is an adjustment to the substitution rules in the second half and overtime, when applicable. To avoid clock manipulation by teams that are ahead or teams that are tied late in a match, all substitutions within the final 15 minutes of regulation and any made during overtime will result in the clock being stopped. The second change affects overtime during the postseason, as sudden victory (otherwise known as the "Golden Goal") has been reinstated. In addition, video review has been expanded to review all penalty kick situations, all straight red cards events, denial of obvious goal-scoring opportunity situations and any potential offside violations in goal-scoring situations.
 
THE SKIPPER
With a record of 91-34-19 (.698) overall and 62-9-9 in RMAC action over his first seven seasons at the helm in Golden, skipper Greg Mulholland has established himself as one of the top head coaches not just in Division II, but the NCAA as a whole. An assistant with the Orediggers from 2007-2016 who served as interim head coach in 2017 before having the interim tag dropped in 2018, Mulholland ranks third among active Division II coaches with a minimum of five years on the job in winning percentage and is 15th across the entirety of NCAA Soccer. Under his direction, Mines has claimed a combined 11 regular season and postseason championships, running off six consecutive regular season crowns from 2017-22 and four tournament titles from 2017-20. Mulholland is also a four-time RMAC Coach of the Year and has twice headed up the United Soccer Coaches Regional Staff of the Year.
 
WEARING THE ARMBAND
For the second consecutive year, Caelin David will serve as a captain for the Orediggers and be joined by goalie Caden Allaire and striker Gabriel Rodriguez.
 
David, a senior from Alpharetta, Georgia, has been a staple in the starting lineup for Mines each of the last two seasons, starting all 38 matches over that span after appearing as a reserve in nine matches as a freshman in 2021. He scored his first two career goals in 2023 and has five career points heading into 2024.
 
Allaire has emerged as a locker room leader heading into his second season at Mines after transferring into the program for the 2023 season. An RMAC Goalkeeper of the Week honoree last October, he started all 16 matches in which he played for more than 1,400 minutes and recorded 56 saves, a 1.60 GAA and a .691 save percentage while going 4-6-6 with three shutouts.
 
Rodriguez, who earned his captaincy just last week, appeared in 51 matches with 14 starts over his first three seasons as an Oredigger and scoring 11 goals with five assists including two game-winners in over 2,100 career minutes played.
 
IN THE POLLS
Mines was tabbed to finish fifth in the RMAC Preseason Coaches' Poll back on August 15, earning 63 points on the ballot. The national runners-up each of the last two seasons, CSU Pueblo was picked to win the league with eight first place votes while defending champion Fort Lewis earned three first place ballots to place second. Colorado Mesa and UCCS rounded out the top five in third and fourth.
 
For the third consecutive week, the top five in the United Soccer Coaches poll remained the same as Lynn, Cal State Los Angeles, Charleston, UCCS and Limestone maintained standing. CSU Pueblo moved up two spots to seventh while Fort Lewis dropped out of the Top 25 this week but still received votes to remain in the conversation.
 
BIG GAME GABE
Gabriel Rodriguez has been one of the players who has shone the brightest in the biggest moments for the Orediggers this season. The first player since 2022 with multiple two-goal performances in a season, the senior has shown up in big matches this season to help Mines build some momentum. His first big night of the year came on September 14 in a 2-1 upset of ninth-ranked Point Loma at home, scoring the game-winner in the 82nd minute after taking the lead the first time in the 54th. Then last Thursday he did it again, scoring the game-winner in the 81st minute after breaking the seal to start the second half in the 58th. As just six matches remain this season, Rodriguez will be one the Orediggers will look to in order to preserve their postseason aspirations.
 
WORTH THE WAIT
After having to sit out last season, Ayman Bushara's performance in 2024 has shown that the wait was worth it. After starting his college career with two seasons at Air Force and then missing the 2022 season, Bushara has emerged as a veteran presence on a Mines team that is littered with youth. After scoring his third goal of the season Sunday, the redshirt junior has now matched his career scoring total entering this fall and has an assist for seven points. Like Rodriguez, Bushara's leadership and experience will be critical for Mines over their next six matches as they look to finish the season strong and return to postseason play.
 
ALL HANDS ON DECK
With the addition of 13 newcomers to the program this fall, the 34-man roster Greg Mulholland brought into this season was one of, if not the largest, roster he and his staff had assembled during his tenure in Golden. With the appearance of another of those newcomers, Josh Ary, Sunday against Westminster, 27 different players have now seen action in at least one match this season. For comparison, that's as many players who were rostered for the Orediggers in 2023 and is tied for the most players used by an RMAC team this season with Colorado Mesa.
 
A LOOK AT THE STANDINGS
Two weeks into conference play and a name not many thought would be in this position sits atop the standings as Regis is 4-0-0 with 12 points and riding a four-match winning streak. CSU Pueblo follows behind at 3-0-0 with nine points with UCCS in third at 2-0-1 and seven points. Beyond them, things get congested in a hurry as MSU Denver and South Dakota Mines both stand at 1-1-2 with five points. Currently there exists a three-way tie for sixth between Mines (1-2-1), Fort Lewis (1-1-1) and Colorado Christian (1-2-1), all of whom have taken different ways to get to the same place with four points.
 
Westminster resides at 0-2-2 with two points with Adams State and Colorado Mesa bringing up the year at 0-2-1 and 0-3-1 respectively with just one point to their haul with only four weeks remaining in the season.
 
CHECKING THE STATS
Gabriel Rodriguez doubled his season scoring tally to four over the weekend, adding two more goals to raise his point total to eight. Ayman Bushara kept pace with him on his third goal of the season Sunday and has an assist to his ledger for seven points.
 
Quin Collins has one of each for three points while Luke Hanna rounds out the scoring with one goal. John Burnett, Raul Gerhardus, Marc Zimmermann and the freshman trio of Kian Mueller, Jaden Igarta and Smith Russell all have assists.
 
Between the pipes, Peter Saunders has taken over the starting job and has 26 saves against eight goals allowed in 450 minutes across six matches. After a rocky debut against Cal Poly Pomona, the sophomore has lowered his GAA to 1.60 and raised his save rate to .765 in the five matches since. Caden Allaire has started seven times in eight matches with 31 saves against 16 goals allowed in 630 minutes with a 2.29 GAA and a .660 save rate against 105 shots faced.
 
As a unit, Mines is -13 in goal differential at 24-9 this season but is trending upward as they enter the week averaging 0.75 goals and 9.8 shots per game while allowing 2.00 and 14.2 to opponents. They have a combined 57 saves in goal and eight assists on their nine goals. They have been issued 14 yellow cards and one red while being whistled for 129 fouls. They have taken 59 corner kicks and are 2-2 on PKs this fall.
 
SCOUTING REGIS
The Rangers couldn't have asked for a better start to RMAC play, winning their first four matches by a combined score of 16-3 following a 1-2-5 start to the season in non-conference action.
 
Eight different players have actively found the back of the net this season while two own goals by the opposition comprise the balance of goals for RU in 2024. Leading the way is Elias Taubo with six goals in addition to a team-leading seven assists. Liam Corr has five of each while Ignacio Bellina also has five goals. Bellina and Taubo combined for the two goals scored against Mines in the first meeting of the season last month.
 
Jacobo Betancourt-Tovar has five assists in addition to one goal while Richard Blaise, Cameron Bennetti, John Murillo and Jack Shimkus all have one goal each. Five further Rangers also have a point this season by way of assists.
 
In goal, Greg Squire remains the leading man with 31 saves against nine goals allowed for a .775 save percentage and a 0.85 GAA against 121 shots faced in 949 minutes with three shutouts in 12 games. Hojin Lee has backed him up and made two appearances for 131 minutes with three saves against two goals allowed while facing eight shots.
 
As a team, RU is +12 in scoring at a 23-11 clip and averages 1.92 goals and 12.1 shots per match while allowing just 0.92 goals and 10.8 shots to the opposition. They have 23 assists on their 23 goals and have 38 saves defensively. RU has been issued 25 cautions and whistled for 129 infractions. They have taken 61 corner kicks and are 1-1 on penalties this season.
 
SCOUTING SOUTH DAKOTA MINES
Having already matched their point from the previous four seasons already in 2024, the Hardrockers appear to be on the upswing when it comes to RMAC play despite their overall record and coming off a weekend in which they lose 5-0 to Fort Lewis and played Adams State to a scoreless draw.
 
Seven different players account for the seven goals scored this season, as Jayden Roque leads the way with three points and also has the team's lone assist. Joel Eckhardt, Ethan French, Hayden Jaramillo, Trent Ripley, Jeff Wacker and Parker Yocom comprise the remainder of the offensive production.
 
In goal, Daniel Freitas is back and seen the lion's share of action, logging over 700 minutes and making 32 saves against 22 goals allowed for a .593 save rate and a 2.96 GAA against 109 shots faced with one shutout across 11 games. Charles Thompson has backed him up this season, making seven appearances with eight saves for seven goals allowed for a .533 save rate and a 3.12 GAA while also spending some time as a field player this season.
 
On the year, SDM is -22 in goal differential at 29-7 and averages 0.64 goals and 9.9 shots per match while allowing 2.64 and 13.0 to opponents. They have one assist on seven goals and have 42 saves in goal defensively. They have been issued 25 yellow cards and 112 fouls while taking 39 corner kicks and are 0-1 on penalties.
 
SERIES HISTORY
Thursday night will be the second time this season the Orediggers and Rangers will square off as Mines will look to atone for a 2-0 loss in Golden back on September 26 that snapped a three-match winning streak. They still lead the overall series 46-36-10 and are 23-18-6 when playing as the road team. The last match on the RU campus resulted in a 2-0 Mines win back in 2022 and going back to 2016, the Orediggers are 4-1-1 when playing on the road.
 
Against the Hardrockers, Mines will stake their unbeaten streak on the line once more as in 10 prior meetings they are 10-0-0 with four of those wins coming in Rapid City. The last trip north was in 2022 and had a little bit of drama involved, but still resulted in a 3-2 Orediggers victory. Last season's matchup in Golden resulted in a 4-0 win for Mines.
 
LOOKING AHEAD
Mines returns home next weekend to host Fort Lewis and Adams State on Thursday October 24 and Sunday October 27. Prior to the ASU match, the Orediggers will hold Senior Day festivities for the members of this year's class who will be calling it a career at the conclusion of the season.
 
Fans can keep up with Mines men's soccer on X and Instagram at @minesmsoc and @mines_msoc. They can also keep up with Colorado School of Mines Athletics all year long on Facebook, X and Instagram using the handle @MinesAthletics.