(1) #1 Mines (20-0-2) vs. (1) #4 Cal Poly Pomona (19-1-2) – Sunday, 1 p.m. PT – Pomona, Calif. [Live Stats] [FloCollege] [Tickets]

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AND THEN THERE WERE EIGHT
The Colorado School of Mines women's soccer team returns to the Elite Eight for the second time in the last three seasons Saturday as they'll hit the road for the first time this postseason, returning to California for a battle of #1 seeds against West region champion Cal Poly Pomona at 1 p.m. PT with a berth in the national semifinals on the line.
 
FAN INFORMATION
Tickets are available for purchase on the gate on the day of the match. No pre-sale tickets are available. Adult tickets are priced at $12, tickets for seniors, first responders and military are $7 and tickets for college students with ID and children under 17 are $5. Additional information about tickets can be found here.
 
LIVE COVERAGE
This weekend's match will be streamed free of charge on FloCollege. Free live stats will be available through Sidearm. Links for video and stats can be found on minesathletics.com.
 
NCAA THIRD ROUND RECAP
Mines capped an 11-0-1 season at home with a 3-1 win in the third round of the 2024 NCAA Division II Women's Soccer Championship last Sunday against Angelo State. After finding themselves on the wrong end of an early 'Olimpico' goal off a corner kick in the eighth minute, Afton Rasco leveled the score in 20th minute with her second goal in as many matches off a corner kick from Jolie Jiricek. Bella Campos took the lead in the 55th minute thanks to help from Reese McDermott following long ball from Rasco. McDermott iced things with a strike in the 77th minute following a long free kick from Jiricek that was won down by Campos to the feet of the Regional Player of the Year to close things out. Allie Lundgren made three saves in goal and recovered from the early goal to direct a defensive effort that did not allow a shot in the second half.
 
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.
 
AT THE HELM
2024 marks the 15th season leading Mines for boss Kevin Fickes, the program's winningest head coach. With a career mark of 244-41-40 (.813), he ranks sixth in all of the NCAA and third in Division II among head coaches with at least five years of experience when it comes to winning percentage. One of two RMAC coaches with 200 career victories, under his direction Mines has overseen 36 All-America selections, 17 Academic All-America selections, 81 all-conference honorees and 29 RMAC major award winners. Fickes has also guided Mines to seven RMAC regular season titles and 10 RMAC Tournament crowns and made 16 consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances.
 
THE CAPTAINS
The three Orediggers who wore the captain's 'C' in 2023 will do so again in 2024 as Ava Harman, Katie Koehler and Reese McDermott will all reprise their roles this fall.
 
Harman, a fifth-year player, started all 22 matches last season, logging a career-best marks with two goals and seven assists with both goals being game winners. Going back to her freshman season in the spring of 2020, Harman has started 68 of 72 matches in her career entering this fall.
 
Koehler, another fifth-year player, tied her career high with four goals last fall while also registering the first two assists of her career from her center back spot after starting 21 of 22 matches. Like Harman, she brings a wealth of experience and has started 69 times in her 72 matches played for over 6,000 minutes through four seasons.
 
McDermott enters her fourth and final season at Mines as one of the greatest to ever don the Silver & Blue with her named dotted across the program's record book. The reigning RMAC Player of the Year, former Freshman of the Year and three-time First Team All-RMAC selection, she scored 11 times with a career-high eight assists in 2023 with four game-winners while starting 21 times in 22 matches. Another experienced veteran, the striker started 59 times in 63 matches over the course of her first three seasons.
 
IN THE POLLS
It was a close one, but in the RMAC Preseason Coaches' Poll Mines was tabbed as the preseason favorite to win the league in 2024, earning seven first place votes while reigning champions UCCS earned six. Colorado Mesa was picked to finish third with Regis and MSU Denver rounding out the top five.
 
Mines held pat atop the national rankings which were last released November 5 followed by Columbus State, Ashland and Cal Poly Pomona. Gannon moved up two places from seventh to fifth. Colorado Mesa was up to #18 while MSU Denver continued to earn votes.
 
ALL-REGION ALL-STARS
A whopping six Orediggers were named to the D2 CCA All-South Central Region teams that were announced Tuesday, headlined by Reese McDermott's coronation as Regional Player of the Year. Read more about the honorees of this year's All-Region teams here.
 
POSTSEASON HONORS
The Orediggers cleaned up last month when it came to the RMAC postseason major awards and All-Conference teams. Reese McDermott and Bella Campos were named Co-Player of the Year while Ava Harman became the third Oredigger in as many seasons to be named Defensive Player of the Year, joining Natalie Rouse and Jordan Barnhart. Kevin Fickes was named Coach of the Year by his peers while a further three Mines players earned All-RMAC honors, with Cloey Seltzer being named all-conference First Team, Lauren Clingman being named a Second Team honoree and Kaitlyn Manalili earning Honorable Mention honors. Read more about the postseason honors for the Orediggers here.
 
TOP OF THE CLASS
For the second year running, Reese McDermott was named the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Academic Player of the Year, becoming the first player in program history to achieve the feat and earning the program's fourth all-time honor. Joining McDermott on the league's All-Academic First Team were midfielder Kaitlyn Manalili and goalkeeper Allie Lundgren while a further 16 Orediggers earned Academic Honor Roll status. Read more about the brainy bunch here.
 
IN THE NEWS
Denver7's Bradey King came out prior to the RMAC Tournament to shine a light on the Orediggers' run of success in 2024 and talked with Ava Harman, Lauren Clingman and Kevin Fickes about the season that has been and what to look forward to as the postseason begins. Watch the story that aired on last Friday's evening news here.
 
LOOKING AT THE BRACKET
56 teams made the field for the 2024 NCAA Division II Women's Soccer Championship this season across the eight regions. Mines earned the #1 seed in the South Central Region thanks to their performance this season and were joined as the top seed in the respective regions by Shepherd (Atlantic), West Florida (South), Adelphi (East), Columbus State (Southeast), Cal Poly Pomona (West), Ashland (Midwest) and Central Missouri (Central).
 
Looking at the Round of Eight this weekend, five #1 seeds will be in action along with a pair of two seeds and a three seed. Shepherd will square off with Franklin Pierce while West Florida and Columbus State clash in another battle of high-powered offenses. Minnesota State and Grand Valley state matchup in a 2-3 battle between the Central and Midwest regions while Mines travels west to Cal Poly Pomona in the final of four matches to kickoff Saturday.
 
NCAA NOTES
Mines has an impressive streak going as they have made 16 consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances going back to 2008 (there was no tournament in the spring 2021 season). Following last weekend's third round match, the Orediggers are 17-10-10 all-time and will be making their seventh appearance in the Elite Eight. Unfortunately. The national quarterfinals have not been kind to Mines historically as in six previous matches they are 0-3-3 with their lone advancement coming in 2014 against Stanislaus State 4-3 on penalties following a scoreless draw through overtime.
 
HOMECOMING
This weekend will be a homecoming of sorts for several Mines players, the closest being junior netminder Allie Lundgren. Lundgren hails from Coto de Caza, just about an hour away from Pomona and prepped at Tesoro High School where she netted 45 shutouts in 69 matches with a career GAA under 0.75. Freshman Sam Forde is a Thousand Oaks native while redshirt sophomore Gaby Guerrero comes from two hours north of Pomona in Bakersfield. Natalie Rouse also claims California native status as a native of Carlsbad.
 
DYNAMIC DUO
Bella Campos and Afton Rasco might be playing their best soccer of the season at the right time in the first two matches of the NCAA Tournament for Mines. Campos has a goal and an assist in each match while Rasco has a goal in each contest as well. The duo are the first pair of teammates in the 20-year history of Mines women's soccer to score in consecutive NCAA Tournament matches, adding their names to the record book in a season which has generated plenty.
 
CLIMBING THE RANKS, PART I
When it's all said and done, Reese McDermott will go down as one of the all-time greats to ever play at Mines. After scoring the game-winner in the RMAC title match November 16, McDermott has scored the go-ahead goal 18 times, one shy of Anna Evans (2010-13) for second all-time. She's also now the third player to score 50 or more goals in a career and now stands at 53, two back of Evans for second in that category as well. Meanwhile, her 125 points place her in third all-time ahead of Megan Woodworth (2009-12) and eight back of Evans.
 
Bella Campos stands alongside McDermott as the duo account for two of three double-digit scorers in the RMAC this season and was the only player in the RMAC to record a hat trick in league play in 2024. She now has 30 goals in not even two plus seasons and has moved past Nicole LaTourette (2016-19) for fifth all-time. Meanwhile, her 71 career points give her sole possession of fifth all-time past LaTourette as she now sets her sights on Woodworth's mark of 120 in fourth.
 
CLIMBING THE RANKS, PART II
While not seeing much time of late in goal, Sadie Wolf is still on track to be one of the top keepers in program history. Already the owner of 19 shutouts, good for fourth all-time, her career GAA of 0.59 is also good for third in the record books while she owns the longest consecutive scoreless minutes streak of 996:02 which she set last fall from September 24-November 12 and is tied for the second-most consecutive full shutouts with five.
 
Fellow netminder Allie Lundgren has emerged this season and finds her name in the record books with 10 shutouts and has moved past Penny Rogers (2008-11) for seventh all-time and now trails Sierra Roth by two for sixth.
 
When it comes to assists, McDermott also finds her name in the top five in that category as well following the 19th of her career Sunday, moving her past Kayla Mitchell (2006-09) for fifth all time and three back of Acacia Ortiz (2015-18) for fourth. Ellise Putnam could reach top five status as well potentially as she has 15 heading into play this weekend.
 
CHECKING THE STATS
Following last Sunday's match, Reese McDermott now has three goals and two assists in postseason play in 2024 as she leads to team in scoring with 19 goals and is tied for the team lead in assists with seven, notching seven game-winners and going 1-2 on PKs. Bella Campos has a goal and an assist in each of the Oredigger's first two NCAA Tournament matches this season and has four goals and three assists over the last five matches going back to the regular season finale on November 3 against Westminster. The sophomore has 14 goals and seven assists to tie for the team lead with McDermott while netting five game-winners and going 2-3 from the spot.
 
Afton Rasco has likewise scored in both NCAA Tournament matches and is now third on the club with five goals in addition to three assists. The trio of Cloey Seltzer, Ellise Putnam and Ava Harman all have four goals apiece and four, three and two assists respectively. Kaitlyn Manalili and Laura Butler each have a trio of goals to their name while Manalili's six assists trail only Campos and McDermott. Lauren Clingman, Ariana Ahumada, Gaby Guerrero and Natalie Rouse round out the scoring with a goal each as Clingman leads the group with two assists and has been a defensive stalwart this postseason.
 
In goal Allie Lundgren rebounded from a challenging second round performance to limit a potent Angelo State attack to just one goal on 10 shots while directing a defense that did not allow a shot over the 49:46 of action. The junior from Coto de Caza has made 55 saves against 10 goals allowed in 1,50:05 in 19 starts across 20 matches with a 0.51 GAA and an .846 save rate with nine shutouts against 154 shots. Sadie Wolf opened the season as the starter and in five matches with three starts, has seven saves against one goal allowed in 249:55 for a 0.36 GAA and an .875 save rate with a shutout. Together the pair have combined for a further three clean sheets.
 
On the season, Mines is +50 scoring at 61-11 and averages 2.77 goals on 20.0 shots per contest while allowing 0.50 goals on 7.8 shots to opposing teams. They have 47 assists on 61 goals and have combined for 63 saves in goal. They have taken 140 corner kicks and at 4-6 from the spot. They have been called for 140 fouls and issued seven cautions.
 
SCOUTING CAL POLY POMONA
The Broncos swept the CCAA regular season and tournament titles this fall and enter Saturday's match winners of seven in a row following their lone setback of 2024 on the road at Stanislaus State on October 27 by a tally of 2-0. In the ensuing seven wins, CPP has outscored teams 16-3 and 3-1 in NCAA Tournament play.
 
Cal Poly Pomona secured the West region title last weekend in a tightly contested match with defending national champions Point Loma, coming out with a 2-1 lead thanks to a 96th-minute overtime goal from CCAA Honorable Mention selection Angelina Rivas. Rivas is one of three Broncos with seven goals this season, four of which have been game-winners, as she's also got three assists and is 1-1 on PKs.
 
Vanessa Cruz mopped up when it came to postseason honors earning CCAA Player, Newcomer and Forward of the Year honors in her first season at CPP following one year apiece at the University of Saint Katherine and UC Riverside. The junior leads the team in scoring with 11 goals and four assists and has five game-winners while going 1-1 on penalties. First Team All-CCAA selection Tara Oper is the second of three players with seven goals this season while leading the team with nine assists and has three game-winners and is joined by Second Team selection Marisa Salazar who has seven goals and five assists of her own with four game-winners having split time between the starting lineup and the bench.
 
Honorable Mention All-CCAA selection Alexis Macias has five goals and three assists and is followed by First Teamer Liberty Ortiz with three goals and four assists. Four Broncos have two goals apiece headlined by Second Team selection Auburn Burnett and her five assists. In total, 11 different players have scored for CPP this season, five of which have five or more goals to their ledgers.
 
In goal, Bella Hara has played all but 21 minutes this season and started all 22 matches to date, recording 45 saves against 14 goals allowed in 1,964:12 between the pipes with 12 shutouts, a 0.64 GAA and a .763 save rate against 134 shots on her way to Second Team All-CCAA honors. Kat Aguaya has appeared in two matches and has one save against the lone shot she has faced.
 
For the season, Cal Poly Ponona is +36 in goal differential at 50-14 and averages 2.27 goals on 16.6 shots per match while limiting teams to 0.64 goals and 6.1 shots. They have 42 assists on their 50 goals and have a combined 46 saves in goal. They have taken 116 corner kicks and are 2-3 on penalties this season. Defensively they have been whistled for 200 fouls and assessed 18 yellow cards.
 
SERIES HISTORY
There's no time like a national quarterfinal for the first-ever meeting between the Orediggers and Broncos. That said, Mines is 4-0-0 against California foes over the past two seasons and 5-0-1 going back to 2018. All-time against California opponents, the Orediggers are 11-0-3. Recent history against first-time opponents has been good to Mines as well, as they are 4-1-0 in first-time matches going back to 2021.
 
UP NEXT
With a win, the Orediggers will advance to the semifinals of the NCAA Division II Women's Soccer Championship to be contested December 13. The final four teams left in the tournament following this weekend's matches will be re-seeded for the semfinals. With a loss, Mines' season will be over and the offseason will begin.
 
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.