Mines (1-3-0) at #3 Cal State Los Angeles (2-0-1) – Friday, 7 p.m. PT – Los Angeles, Calif. [Live Stats] [FloFC ($)]
Mines (1-3-0) at #10 Cal Poly Pomona (2-1-0) – Sunday, 1 p.m. PT – Pomona, Calif. [Live Stats] [FloFC ($)]

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WEST COAST RETURN
After a one-week respite at home last week, the Colorado School of Mines will be racking up more frequent flyer miles as they'll head back to California this weekend for two more matches with ranked opponents, taking on #3 Cal State Los Angeles on Friday night before taking on #10 Cal Poly Pomona Sunday afternoon.
 
LIVE COVERAGE
Live streams for both matches will be available this weekend, but will require access being purchased for viewing on FloFC. Free live stats will be available through Sidearm for both matches. Links for video and stats for both matches can be found on minesathletics.com.
 
WEEK 2 RECAP
It was a mixed bag for Mines to open their home campaign last weekend, suffering a 3-0 loss Thursday night to Biola before pulling off a thrilling upset of #9 Point Loma by a score of 2-1. Despite putting up a season-high 13 shots against the Eagles, the Orediggers couldn't convert any chances into goals as an eight-minute stretch in the second half saw BU score all three of their goals to all but put the match away. Against the Sea Lions, a scoreless first half saw the teams trade goals back-to-back less than nine minutes into the final 45 before Mines netted the game-winner in the 82nd minute. After subbing back into the match, Gabriel Rodriguez did his best Robin van Persie impression with a diving header to the upper left corner of goal off consecutive headers from Jaden Igarta and Kian Mueller off a throw in from Maxwell Stultz to send the Stermole faithful home happy with a win in an instant classic of a match.
 
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 90-28-18 (.728) overall and 61-7-8 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.
 
With the release of the week two poll national poll Tuesday, CSU dropped outside the top ten down to #15 following their first loss of the season, being usurped by UCCS and Fort Lewis who rose to #8 and #9 respectively. Cal State Los Angeles remained at #3 while Cal Poly Pomona rose to #10 with last Saturday's foe Point Loma dropping from the rankings following their loss to Mines
 
WEST COAST HUSTLE
Head coach Greg Mulholland isn't afraid to put together a challenging schedule for his club, and this season is no exception. Six of the Orediggers' eight non-conference bouts this season will be against teams from the state of California, with four of those contests being held on the West Coast while three straight opponents, Point Loma, Cal State Los Angeles and Cal Poly Pomona, are all either ranked in the Top 25 or received votes to start the season. One can imagine that by the time RMAC play rolls around on October 3, Mines will be battled-tested thanks in large part to playing some of the top teams from out west who make regular appearances in the NCAA Tournament.
 
CHECKING THE STATS
With his two-goal performance in the win Saturday of Point Loma, Gabriel Rodriguez is the clubhouse leader in scoring while Luke Hanna has the third of Mines' three goals so far this season. Ayman Bushara, Quin Collins, Jaden Igarta and Kian Mueller have all chalked up an assist and round out the offensive contributors so far for the Orediggers.
 
Caden Allaire has been the man in goal all four matches this season, playing all 360 minutes and making 19 saves against seven goals allowed for a 1.75 GAA and a .731 save rate against 62 total shots faced.
 
On the season, Mines finds themselves -4 in goal differential and averages 8.8 shots a night with opposing clubs taking better than 15 a night. They have four assists on their three goals with 20 combined saves with 20 corner kicks as a team and have yet to attempt a PK.
 
SCOUTING CAL STATE LOS ANGELES
The Golden Eagles failed to score for the first time this fall in a scoreless draw with Seattle Pacific in Seattle last Saturday as they'll play at home for the first time in 2024 against Mines on Friday.
 
Three different players account for the three goals that have been scored by CSLA through three matches, with Matteo Costa, Emil Kischka and Sergio Vega all scoring unassisted goals, with Costa and Vega's goals coming via penalty kicks.
 
In goal, Diego Brava has played all 270 minutes and helped direct defensive efforts that have yet to allow a goal the fall as he's made five saves against 26 total shots faced and is 2-0-1 with three shutouts.
 
As a team, CSLA is +3 in goal differential with 42 shots as a team for an average of 14.0 per match while allowing 8.7 to opponents. They have six saves as a team and have taken 16 corner kicks while going 2-3 on PKs to date.
 
SCOUTING CAL POLY POMONA
The Broncos have either scored twice or not scored at all over the course of their opening three games of the season, taking 2-0 decisions over Biola and Azusa Pacific while dropping a 1-0 contest to Point Loma. Last Saturday's win over the Cougars opened a four-match home stand for CPP as they'll play MSU Denver Friday night before closing the weekend with Mines Sunday.
 
Woody Angell leads the team with two goals so far and is joined in the scoring column by Rocca Ban and Jaokb Singh. Five different players have been credited with assists on those three goals as Hector Arellances, Marc Birkelund, Daniel Gutierrez, Marcus Jorgensen and Max Laguna have all contributed on offense.
 
In goal, Luke Garciduenas has made seven stops against just one goal allowed in 270 minutes for a 0.33 GAA and an .875 save rate against 18 total shots faced with two shutouts to his credit.
 
Collectively, CPP is +3 in goal differential at 4-1 and averages 12.7 shots per contest while holding the opposition to just six. They have five assists on their three goals and seven saves in goal. The Broncos have taken 18 corner kicks and are yet to attempt a PK in 2024.
 
SERIES HISTORY
Friday night will mark another first-time opponent for Mines against Cal State Los Angeles, while Sunday will be the seventh all-time meeting with Cal Poly Pomona. The Broncos lead the series 3-1-2 all-time with the two teams playing to 2-2 and 1-1 draws each of the last two seasons. This will be the second trip for the Orediggers to Pomona, the site of the two-goal draw in 2022 as they look for their first win in the series since 1996.
 
LOOKING AHEAD
Mines will wrap up their non-conference slate next weekend with a pair of matches against some metro area opponents, taking on Regis at home Thursday September 26 at 6 p.m. followed by a trip downtown to take on MSU Denver Sunday September 29 at 1 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.