Mines (1-5-0) vs. Regis (0-1-5)) – Thursday, 6 p.m. – Golden, Colo. [Live Stats] [RMAC Network]
Mines (1-5-0) at MSU Denver (1-4-1) – Sunday, 1:30 p.m.– Denver, Colo. [Live Stats] [RMAC Network]

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ONE FINAL TUNEUP
One weekend of non-conference plays remains for the Colorado School of Mines men's soccer team as they return to the Denver metro area this weekend to take on a couple of familiar opponents. Thursday night the Orediggers return to Stermole Stadium for a showdown with Regis before making the short trip to downtown for a Sunday matchup against MSU Denver.
 
FAN INFORMATION
Tickets can be purchased online in advance at minesathletics.com/tickets or at the gate on the day of the match. Mines students, faculty and staff will be admitted for free with their BlasterCard. Fans are encouraged to park in Lot K immediately to the north of Stermole Stadium. Fans as are not allowed to park in the neighborhood surrounding the Clear Creek Athletic Complex, as the City of Golden's street parking requires a permit seven days a week.
 
LIVE COVERAGE
Both matches this weekend will be streamed free of charge on the RMAC Network. 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 3 RECAP
Round two in California last weekend didn't go as Mines had hoped following a win over then ninth-ranked Point Loma at home on September 14. The Orediggers scored first Friday night against Cal State LA, the first goal given up by the #3 team in the country thanks to the first score of Ayman Bushara's Mines career, but things went sideways as the Golden Eagles tied things before the break, took the lead shortly after the break and broke the match open in the final 15 minutes for a 4-1 result.
 
Sunday Mines didn't fare much better, falling behind 3-0 in the first 19 minutes behind a furious attack by Cal Poly Pomona. Despite a resilient second half performance that held the Broncos scoreless, the offense was unable to get the Orediggers back in the game as the halftime score turned out to be the final as well.
 
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 90-30-18 (.717) 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.
 
Tuesday's national saw a new name atop the list as Lynn traded places with defending national champion Franklin Pierce. Mines' opponent from last Friday Cal State Los Angeles remained third with Charleston and UCCS rounding out the top five. CSU Pueblo was back on the rise to ninth while Fort Lewis dropped out of the top 10 down to #18 as Colorado Mesa earned votes once again this week.
 
CHECKING THE STATS
Gabriel Rodriguez remains the team leader in goals with two so far in 2024 while Luke Hanna and Ayman Bushara each have one goal. Bushara along with John Burnett, Quin Collins, Jaden Igarta and Kian Mueller have all logged an assist on those goals.
 
In goal Caden Allaire started the first five matches of the season before coming on at halftime last time out and to date has 24 saves against 11 goals allowed for a .686 save percentage and a 2.00 GAA against 81 shots faced. Peter Saunders made his 2024 debut Sunday and made six saves while allowing three goals in 45 minutes of action against 10 total shots faced.
 
On the season, Mines is -10 in goal differential at 14-4 and is averaging 0.67 goals and 9.2 shots per contest. Opponents meanwhile are averaging 2.33 and 15.2 in those categories. The Orediggers have been whistled for 56 fouls and issued five yellow cards with one red. They have five assists on their four goals, 31 combined saves, have taken 31 corner kicks and have yet to be issued a PK in 2024.
 
SCOUTING REGIS
The Rangers find themselves in search of their first win of 2024 heading into Thursday still after an 0-1-1 weekend in Salt Lake City against Seattle Pacific and Western Washington after starting the season with four consecutive draws.
 
Elias Taubo sits atop the leaderboard in scoring with two goals while Liam Corr, Johan Murillo and Blaise Richard all have one goal apiece. Five players have an assist led by Jacobo Betancourt-Tovar with two while Corr, Matthew Bared, Sahar Golov and Vasili Papadopoulos all have a single tally through six matches.
 
In goal Greg Squire is back after splitting time last year with nine starts in 18 matches. Through six outings so far in 2024, he has 21 saves against six goals allowed for a .778 save rate and a 1.00 GAA with a shutout against 70 shots faced.
 
Collectively, Regis is -1 in goal differential being outscored 6-5 and averages 0.83 goals and 9.2 shots per match with opponents averaging 1.00 and 11.7. They have six assists on their five goals and made 24 saves as a group. Defensively they have been whistled for 68 fouls and issued 10 cautions and have taken 26 corner kicks while going 1-1 on PKs.
 
SCOUTING MSU DENVER
The Roadrunners were the travel partner with Mines last weekend in California against Cal Poly Pomona and Cal State Los Angeles and suffered a similar fate, falling 2-0 to the Broncos Friday and 1-0 to the Golden Eagles Sunday as they enter a match with Westminster Thursday afternoon at home on a four-match winless streak.
 
Five different players account for the five goals MSU Denver has scored this year and include Dallas Baer, Luke Bone, Noah Hannula, Brendan O'Tool and Nicco Schiappa. Parker Landry has been involved in two of those goals as he leads MSUD in assists while Cooper Landry has one assist to his credit.
 
Junior college transfer Nick McNeil has taken over in goal this season and played every minute of the first six matches for the Roadrunners, recording 31 saves and allowing 10 goals for a .756 save percentage and a 1.67 GAA while posting a pair of shutouts and facing 74 total shots.
 
As a team, MSUD is -5 in goal differential at 10-5 and is averaging 0.83 goals and 9.5 shots per match while opponents are averaging 1.67 and 12.2 respectively. They have three assists on their five goals and 31 saves in goal. The Roadrunners have been whistled for 78 fouls and issued seven caution thus far and have taken 19 corners kicks while going 1-2 on penalty kicks.
 
SERIES HISTORY
Thursday night will be the 92nd all-time meeting between Mines and Regis with the Orediggers leading the all-time series 46-35-10 and currently riding a three-match winning streak while coming out winners in nine of the last 13 contests going back to 2014 with a record of 9-1-3 in that span. Last fall Mines netted a 2-0 victory over the Rangers in Golden.
 
Sunday will see the Orediggers and Roadunners tangle for the 93rd time overall as Mines also leads that series 47-35-10 and since 2017 has a record of 7-1-2. Last fall, the Orediggers rallied to earn a 2-2 draw in the late moments of the second half which halted a four-match winning streak in the series.
 
LOOKING AHEAD
RMAC play awaits the Orediggers to begin the month of October at home starting Thursday October 3 at 6 p.m. against ## UCCS followed by a 12 p.m. kick against ## CSU Pueblo on Sunday October 6.
 
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.