(5) Mines (7-9-2, 6-2-2) at (4) #3 UCCS (13-1-4, 6-1-3) – Sunday, 12 p.m. – Colorado Springs, Colo. [Tournament Central] [Live Stats] [RMAC Network PPV] [Tickets]

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POSTSEASON RETURN
After being unable to defend their tournament title in 2023 after missing out on a postseason spot on the final day of the regular season, the Colorado School of Mines men's soccer team returns the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Men's Soccer Championship in 2024 seeking their 12th tournament title in program history as they'll start their journey with a quarterfinal matchup against the #3 team in the latest United Soccer Coaches Top 25, the #4 seed in this year's event UCCS.
 
FAN INFORMATION
Fans are reminded that the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference will be implementing a subscription model for all championship broadcasts. Fans will be able to purchase a championship pass for $20 to gain access to all broadcasts of the 2024 RMAC Men's Soccer Championship and watch on-demand, as well as a day pass available for $9.99 to gain access to broadcasts for any single day of action.
 
For technical support questions, fans may submit a support ticket with Hudl Support or email the RMAC directly (help@rmacsports.org). For further support, fans can visit the RMAC Network Help page.
 
Fans are also reminded that there is no passlist for the postseason. Fans are encouraged to purchase advance tickets through Hudl Tickets prior to the event. Single-match general admission tickets are $15 while tickets for children ages 6-17, adults over 65 and military personnel are $10. A two-day pass for both semifinal and championship matches is available for $25.
 
LIVE COVERAGE
As mentioned above, all postseason matches will be available on a pay-per-view basis on the RMAC Network. Free live stats will be available for the match. Links for video and stats for both matches can be found on minesathletics.com.
 
LAST TIME OUT
Who'd have thought the first blast of winter weather would help produce one of the wildest and most entertaining matches of the season? That's exactly what happened Wednesday as the Orediggers hosted MSU Denver in the second of two meetings between the teams this season as both squads jockeyed for postseason seeding. Mines got off to a hot start on the cold night, jumping out to a 2-0 lead in the first 15 minutes thanks to a goal from Raul Gerhardus in the seventh followed by the first career goal for Charlie Newberry off a Gerhardus corner kick in the 15th. The Roadrunners rallied and got on the board in the 22nd minute before leveling things for the first time at 2-2 in the 71st minute. Jimmy Koufidakis turned in about as productive an eight-minute shift as one could ask, as he cleaned up the rebound following a Gerhardus free kick that came back into play in the 75th minute to retake the lead. MSUD answered in the 82nd minute with another goal to make it 3-3, but in the end it was Gerhardus who again teamed up with Ayman Bushara for the game-winner, this time in the 88th minute of play to hang on for a wild 4-3 win from a snow-covered Stermole Stadium.
 
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 96-34-20 (.703) overall and 67-9-10 in RMAC action 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 among the top 10 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.
 
Nationally Lynn and Charleston remained 1-2 while UCCS surged up two spots into third. Coker and Southern New Hampshire also debuted in the top five this week, with the former going from seventh to fourth and the latter going sixth to fifth. CSU Pueblo gained just one spot moving up to #15 while Fort Lewis moved up two positions to #17.
 
ALL IN THE FAMILY
It's always a neat thing in sports to see family members competing against one another. That's exactly what happened back on October 3 when the Russell family got to see brothers Soren and Smith square off for the first time. While the moment was certainly a fun and memorable one to be sure, one does wonder how the Russell family feels about Smith bucking the pipeline to Colorado Springs. After all, Soren isn't the first family member to don the black and gold as eldest brother Sybren closed out his career in the fall of 2023. Still, Smith will look to even the score against his older brother Sunday in a win-or-go-home matchup in Colorado Springs.
 
RED-HOT RAUL
While Bushara has some longevity to what he's done the last three-plus weeks, Raul Gerhardus' recent point production has vaulted him inside the top 10 in the RMAC in that category as well as assists. Counting back to the epic 3-3 draw on October 17 at Regis, Gerhardus has either scored a goal, assisted on a goal or done both in five of the last six matches for Mines, scoring five times with an equal number of dimes for 15 points. In fact, he's been responsible for the last five goals scored by the Orediggers entering the postseason. While we understand making up for lost time is a definite thing (Gerhardus missed the entirety of 2021 and 2022, most of 2023 and early 2024 due to injury), the Wichita native is showing the world just how prolific of a player he is.
 
AMAZIN' AYMAN
Over the last seven matches, Ayman Bushara has arguably been one of, if not the, hottest players in the RMAC. After netting the game-winner last Thursday at Colorado Christian, the Air Force transfer did it again Wednesday, taking over sole possession of second in the league in scoring with his ninth goal of the season and his third game-winner. Along with three assists which brings his point haul to 21 for the season, you'd never know the last time Bushara played a full season of soccer was in the fall of 2021 in his second season with the Falcons. And oh by the way, his seven-match scoring streak? It broke the previous recent record of six games in 2017 by John Haist and is tied with Tesho Akindele's 2010 season for the longest scoring streak in the last 15 years.
 
SETTING THE STAGE
Despite the best efforts of Mother Nature to throw a wrench into Wednesday's schedule of games, the show went on to determine the final seedings for the RMAC Tournament. With the six-team field already set following play Sunday, it was just a matter of semantics to see who went where and who played who. Ultimately it was CSU Pueblo who took the top seed and won the regular season crown thanks to a 1-1 draw of their own against UCCS combined with a 4-4 draw between Regis and Colorado Christian. The Rangers claimed the #2 seed and join the ThunderWolves in earning a bye in the quarterfinals as they await the winners of this weekend's matches.
 
Fort Lewis eked out a 1-0 win over Adams State to secure the #3 seed and will take on sixth-seeded MSU Denver while Mines locked themselves in as the #5 seed and will head to fourth-seeded UCCS.
 
The ThunderWolves await the winner of the Orediggers and Mountain Lions while the Rangers get the winner between the Skyhawks and Roadrunners. The semifinals will be contested Wednesday November 13 with the title match being held either November 16 or 17.
 
PEAKING AT THE RIGHT TIME
The last four weeks, Mines has been one of the hottest teams in the country. Over their final eight matches of the regular season, they went are 6-0-2 and enter the postseason winners of five in a row. During this recent run, Mines has outscored teams 22-9 and posted shutouts in three of their final five matches. After shaking off the struggles of one of the nation's toughest non-conference schedules, the Silver and Blue seem to have found themselves playing their best soccer of the season at the time when it matters the most.
 
CHECKING THE STATS
After Wednesday night Ayman Bushara is now one goal shy of double-digits for the season with nine to go along with three assists for 21 points. Raul Gerhardus now leads the team with six assists and is second in scoring with five goals for 16 points. Gabriel Rodriguez has four and three for 11 points while Quin Collins has three and two for eight points.
 
Jimmy Koufidakis netted his second tally of the season last time out and became the fifth player to score multiple goals this fall. John Burnett, Smith Russell, Abou Bakar Berthe, Luke Hanna and Charlie Newberry round out the scoring with one goal each.
 
Marc Zimmermann joins Burnett, Collins and Russell with two assists this season while Bakar Berthe, Josh Ary, Caelin David, Jaden Igarta, Noah Roles and Kian Mueller all have one.
 
In goal Peter Saunders returned to the lineup last time out and now sports a 1.52 GAA and a .754 save rate in 886 minutes with 46 saves and 15 goals allowed against 136 shots faced with two shutouts in 11 games. Caden Allare has seen time in 10 contests for 734 minutes and has 33 saves with 16 goals allowed for a 1.96 GAA and a .673 save rate against 11 shots with one shutout.
 
On the season, Mines is -3 in goal differential at 31-28 and is now scoring 1.56 goals on 11.8 shots per night while allowing 1.72 goals on 13.7 shots per contest. They have 26 assists on their 28 goals and are 2-2 on PKs while taking 102 corner kicks. They have a combined 79 saves in goal while defensively have been whistled for 183 fouls, issued 29 cautions and one ejection.
 
SCOUTING UCCS
The Mountain Lions are probably feeling some degree of disappointment following a 1-1 draw Wednesday with CSU Pueblo as they had a chance to secure the RMAC regular season title leading 1-0 in the final minutes before Shjon Andrews netted the equalizer in the 88th minute off a corner kick to earn the draw for the ThunderWolves and the championship. In a testament to the depth and toughness of the RMAC this season, although UCCS is the third-ranked team in Division II, they are the fourth seed in the RMAC Tournament and one of five 20-point teams in the league this season.
 
Winners of four of their final six matches to end the regular season, the Mountain Lions are led offensively by the RMAC scoring leader in 2024 Dani Barajas with 11 goals and three assists for 25 points. Miles Seminario and Nick Walker each have six goals on the season with four and two assists respectively while Cole Venable has three goals. That quartet has also combined to take 11 penalty kicks this season and have converted nine of them with Walker leading the group at 3-3 while the remaining three are all either 2-3 or 2-2.
 
Luke Noameshie scored one of his two goals this season against the Orediggers last month and is one of three players with two goals this fall while a further seven Mountain Lions have a single tally as a total of 14 different players have accounted for a goal. Seminario leads the team in assists heading into the postseason while Barajas is tied with Lars Walczyk for second with three. Five other players for UCCS have two assists while a further six have one apiece.
 
In goal it has been Soren Russell for 17 of 18 games this fall for 1,466 minutes and having made 52 saves against 14 goals allowed for a 0.86 GAA and a .788 save rate with five shutouts against 160 shots faced. Danny Fischer has been the backup this season, starting once in two games for 154 minutes and logging seven saves while not allowing a goal against 30 shots.
 
The second-highest scoring team in the RMAC this fall, UCCS is +25 in goal differential at 39-14 and averages 2.17 goals and 15.2 shots per game while allowing just 0.78 goals and 10.6 shots to opposing teams. They have 26 assists on their 39 goals and are an RMAC-best 9-11 on penalties while taking 103 corner kicks. Defensively they have 61 saves in goal and have been whistled for 178 fouls, issued 31 yellow cards and a single red card.
 
SERIES HISTORY
Mines leads the all-time series with UCCS 50-16-4 but hasn't won since 2022 when the teams last met in the RMAC Tournament. That match ended in a 1-0 win for the Orediggers in Golden. The last trip Mines made to Colorado Springs was last fall and resulted in a scoreless draw between the teams. In the first meeting between the Mountain Lions and Orediggers this fall, UCCS collected a 1-0 win in Golden back on October 3. All-time when playing on the road, the Orediggers are 22-9-1.
 
LOOKING AHEAD
With a win, Mines will advance to the semifinal Wednesday November 13 at top-seeded CSU Pueblo. With a loss, the Orediggers' 2024 season will come to a close.
 
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.