LOS ANGELES, Calif. – Making their second trip to California in the first three weeks of the season, the Colorado School of Mines men's soccer team continued their non-conference gauntlet of matches against ranked foes Friday night against third-ranked Cal State Los Angeles. The Orediggers (1-4-0) did jump out to an early lead thanks to Ayman Bushara, but the Golden Eagles (3-0-1) rallied to equalize right before the half before scoring twice in the second half to secure a 3-1 result.
 
Gabriel Rodriguez uncorked the night's first shot in the third minute before Caden Allaire went to work with a pair of saves in the eighth and 12th minutes as both sides used the early going of the match to feel each other out and try to set the tone for the evening.
 
After the Mines defense halted an attack by the Golden Eagles, Rodriguez played a ball ahead to John Burnett up the near side of the field to lead the counter going the other way. Burnett dribbled back toward the center of the field and dished to Bushara, who collected the pass and fired between two defenders from about 16 yards out past the diving try of freshman keeper Diego Bravo to take the lead and end CSULA's season-opening streak of 286 minutes without allowing a goal.
 
Despite a strong defensive effort while playing with the lead from Mines, CSULA knotted things back up just before the break in the 42nd minute. Felix Alverdale made up for near-miss moments earlier as he somehow managed to get a shot off amidst a log jam of bodies in front of the goal, threading it through several defenders before getting a friendly roll after deflecting off the gloves of Allaire for the equalizer.
 
Coming out to resume play in the second half, Jimmy Koufidakis looked to go back ahead with a shot in the 47th minute but Bravo was there to secure the save. Starting around the 53rd minute, a series of throws in eventually led to corner kick for Cal State Los Angeles and despite strong defense, Maxwell Stultz was whistled for a foul on borderline of the penalty area and to the chagrin of Mines, a penalty kick was awarded. Andrew Portis stood over the ball and went to the near post with his shot, which was initially deflected by a diving Allaire, but the backspin on the rebound carried the ball into the net for the go-ahead score.
 
Allaire rebounded with a save against Alverdale in the 65th minute before Charlie Newberry and Smith Russell each had a shot against Bravo looking for the equalizer around the 70-minute mark, but both shots were saved as it remained a one-score contest.
 
Unfortunately for the Orediggers, the deficit doubled in the 76th minute when Luke Varav converted a shot on a shot cross from the top of the six-yard box over the reach of Allaire to extend the lead to 3-1. A fourth goal for the Golden Eagles came just moments later as Oscar Warne scored on a ball Tomasso Belli as the gap moved to three goals
 
That 4-1 score ended up being the final as despite their best efforts over the final 10 minutes, a comeback was not meant to be for the Orediggers as they fell to 1-1 against ranked opponents in 2024 with the result.
 
NOTABLES
-Bushara's goal was the first of his Mines career and comes in just his third match after having to sit out the 2023 season
-The goal was the third of Bushara's collegiate career after transferring from Air Force and was his first goal in 1,106 days; he has now scored in every collegiate season in which he has appeared in a match
-Burnett's assist was his first of the season and eighth for his career as he now has at least one assist in each of his four seasons at Mines
-Allaire ended the evening with three saves in goal
-Abou Bakar Berthe played a season-high 37 minutes in the match
-Quin Collins joined Bushara, Koufiakis, Newberry and Russell with a shot on goal
-11 different players attempted a shot in the match for the Orediggers
 
UP NEXT
The Orediggers end their second trip to California with their sixth and final opponent from The Golden State to open the season Sunday at 1 p.m. PT against #10 Cal Poly Pomona.
 
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.