GOLDEN, Colo. – Looking to make it three straight wins Sunday, the Colorado School of Mines men's soccer team relied on its veteran players Sunday to lead the way on Senior Day against Adams State. The elder statesmen of the program delivered on their big day, combining for four goals and five assists as the Orediggers (5-9-2, 4-2-2) continued their run as the hottest team in the RMAC over the last three weeks, easily dispatching the Grizzlies (2-9-2, 0-6-1) by a final score of 7-1.
 
The Orediggers wasted little time taking the lead despite the best efforts of Adams State to try and play the possession game in the early going. An attempt to play the ball up field was broken up by Caelin David, who gathered it up and ran ahead playing through contest before dishing a shot pass to Jimmy Koufidakis from 11 yards out for the left-footed top shelf strike for the opening goal of the afternoon in the 3rd minute.
 
Things settled down for the next 30 or so minutes as the Grizzlies did their best to maintain possession and limit opportunities for Mines. Despite the effort, Quin Collins, Raul Gerhardus and John Burnett each had chances on goal but came away empty as for the time it remained a one-score game.
 
After Peter Saunders made his first save of the day in the 35th minute against Tobias Sereinig, a second goal went on the board on the next trip down the field as another newcomer netted their first goal of the season. Deep in ASU territory, Mines pressed home their attack. Carter Jansen passed to the near side of the field to Abou Bakar Berthe who dribbled ahead and passed off the Ayman Bushara. Bushara took a step and sent it right back to Bakar Berthe through two defenders as he slipped a shot between keeper JP Fernandez and the near post to double the lead to 2-0.
 
Saunders recorded a second high leaping save in the 41st minute against Fufo Lopez that resulted in an Adams State corner kick. The ensuing shot off the set piece missed wide left as the first half came to a close with Mines out front by a pair.
 
With the resumption of play in the second half, it didn't take Mines long to blow the match wide open, scoring four times in 12 minutes. The offensive fireworks lit off in the 51st minute as the Orediggers won possession off an ASU throw in. Caelin David played a pass ahead to Gabriel Rodriguez, who chipped a ball around an Adams State defender to perfectly lead Gerhardus, who ran down the pass before driving home his second goal of the weekend inside the far post from about 13 yards out to extend the lead to 3-0.
 
Less than four minutes went off the clock before Mines found the net for a fourth time. As the Grizzlies attempted to play the ball ahead from deep in their own end once again, Bakar Berthe gathered up an errant touch from ASU forced by Noah Roles just in front of the Oredigger bench. A quick one-touch pass ahead to Gerhardus set up the Wichita native for a shot just inside the top of the penalty area that deflected first off the foot of a defender and popping high into the air and despite a strong effort from Fernandez, he was unable to adjust to the carom as the ball glanced off his fingers and under the crossbar to make it 4-0.
 
Not long after, the fifth goal of the match went on the board. A turnover by the Grizzlies deep in their end was played to the center of the field and Rodriguez, who ran just to the edge of the 18-yard box, slipping a pass between three defenders to Ayman Bushara who buried a shot inside the near post from the penalty spot for his second goal of the weekend.
 
Collins finally joined the fun in the 60th minute as Mines continued to press home their attack. A ball ahead to Burnett up the near sideline from Charlie Newberry allowed the ## product to find Gerhardus after contact with a defender in the center of the field. Gerhardus slipped a short pass to Collins, who ran a give-and-go with Burnett around a defender to create some space for a shot over the arms of Fernandez to make it 6-0.
 
Another first-time goal scorer made it a seven-goal game in the 63rd minute. On one of their limited chances throughout the day, ASU turned the ball over in Mines' defensive half. Quickly they turned and went on the attack as Marc Zimmermann played it ahead to Collins who was flanked by Koufidakis and Smith Russell. The senior dished to the freshman on the near side who raced in firing a hard angle shot from the edge of the six that caromed off the far post and in to keep the offense rolling.
 
The only blemish on the afternoon came in the 74th minute when ASU's Tim Mietenkorte broke up a cross-field pass from Zimmermann and playing it ahead to Kaidin Reese. Reese outran the Mines defense and fired from amidst four white jerseys from 23 yards out past the outstretched arms of Saunders to break up the shutout, but it did little to affect the outcome.
 
With the result all but decided, both teams emptied their benches and played out the stretch with their reserves. Mines still had some chances to add onto their already large lead as back-to-back shots from Luke Hanna and Hilmir Arnarsson from close range ended up being batted away by Fernandez.
 
It was only fitting that as time expired, it was the veterans of the program who shined the brightest Sunday as Mines ran their winning streak to three matches and their unbeaten streak to six with the 7-1 result.
 
NOTABLES
-Koufidakis scored his first goal in a Mines uniform to lead things off Sunday and giving him 10 in his collegiate career after spending four seasons at Northwest Nazarene
-Fellow newcomer Bakar Berthe tallied the first three points of his Mines career Sunday, scoring and later adding an assist
-Gerhardus scored twice to cap a monster weekend that resulted in three goals and an assist for seven points since Thursday; in 15 career matches he is now averaging a point per contest thanks to six goals and three assists
-Bushara ran his scoring streak to five matches in the winning effort and added on to his team-leading total of seven
-The Air Force transfer's scoring streak is the longest since the 2022 season when Tristan Semelsberger also ran off a goal in five straight contests
-Collins collected his third goal and second assist of the season, giving him 11 and six respectively in his career for 28 points
-Russell became the first freshman to score this season as his fine debut campaign continues
-Rodriguez recorded his second and third assists of the weekend and season, raising his point total to 11
-Saunders closed with three saves in goal before handing things over to Caden Allaire who made his first appearance in nearly a month
-The 24 shots taken by Mines are the most in a match this season as are their 15 shots on goal
-Timmy Walshauser made his collegiate debut in the match, coming off the bench in the second half to record 18 minutes
-The six-point haul this weekend vaults the Orediggers into third in the RMAC standings with 14 points behind only Regis and CSU Pueblo
 
UP NEXT
Mines plays their final road match of the 2024 regular season Thursday at Colorado Christian at 3 p.m.
 
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.