GOLDEN, Colo. – It was a stellar evening at Stermole Stadium and in front of a sellout crowd, the third-ranked Colorado School of Mines women's soccer team commenced their 2024 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference campaign Friday night against the defending league champions UCCS. Though the Orediggers (7-0-0, 1-0-0) and Mountain Lions (2-3-2, 0-1-0) were even through 45 minutes, the home team blew things open over a 15-minute stretch in the second half and even through they couldn't secure the shutout, still started off league play the right way with a 4-1 win.
 
It took until the 12th minute for the first shot to go on the board and it came from none other than Reese McDermott as she got behind the Mountain Lions' defense and had a one-on-one chance with freshman keeper Izzy Lalouette. The walk-on from Arvada came all the way out to the top of the 18 to break things up and keep things level for the moment.
 
In the 24th minute, the freshman making her first career start looked to pull the same move against Bella Campos in a similar situation, but got a little overzealous and ended up cleaning out the reigning RMAC freshman of the year inside the box, as the Orediggers were awarded a penalty. Campos looked to make it 3-3 on PKs with her attempt, but Lalouette guessed correctly and went to the near post for the save as the ball returned to play and the action continued.
 
UCCS had their first shot of the night in the 30th minute thanks to a long-range salvo from Luke Johnson, but Allie Lundgren had no issues making the easy save on the shot.
 
A third chance for Mines came in the 32nd minute when a Katie Koehler header off a free kick was just inches too high and caromed off the crossbar as the teams hit the intermission scoreless following a well-played opening 45 minutes.
 
Despite having several quality looks in the first half with nothing to show for it, the Orediggers continued to press home their attack to open the second with Afton Rasco and Campos taking aim before a wild sequence in the 55th minute saw the night's first goal. Cloey Seltzer played a through ball to Ellise Putnam amidst a bevy of UCCS defenders out towards the top of the arc, allowing Putnam to maneuver for a shot toward the far post which was saved back into play by Lalouette. Putnam collected the rebound off the endline and played a ball back toward Afton Rasco near the top of the six, where the ball careened off a Mountain Lion defender right back to Putnam, who fired a left-footed waist-high strike through a cluster of three defenders and inside the near post to take the lead.
 
It wasn't too long after the initial goal that the match broke wide open with three more goals coming in a six-minute stretch starting in the 64th minute. Deep in the Mines offensive zone, Lauren Clingman dribbled up the near sideline and played a cross back toward the center of the field looking to find McDermott, but a miscommunication by UUCS saw Lalouette come charging off her line looking to intercept while one her of defender look to break up the clear. The two defensive players narrowly avoided a friendly fire incident, but Hazel Wright inadvertently kicked the ball on the clear attempt straight into the net to make it a 2-0 contest.
 
McDermott's turn finally came in the 66th minute when Lundgren boomed a kick that was headed down and ahead on the other side of midfield by Kaitlyn Manalili, setting up a foot race up the far side of the field between McDermott and Wright. McDermott got to the ball first just inside the penalty area as Wright attempted a tackle to try and disrupt the attack. While she managed to get a piece of the Mines striker, it wasn't enough of one as McDermott recovered with ease, recollected the ball and fired from about eight yards out through two more defenders and to the left of Lalouette for the goal to make it 3-0.
 
Putnam closed the run out in the 70th minute, wining a foot race of her own up the near side and firing a shot for the near post, which was initially saved by Lalouette, but took an Mines bounce off the left woodwork and again right back to Putnam, who settled and chipped a right-footer into the net for the fourth goal of the night.
 
With things all but decided, both teams emptied their benches and played out the stretch with their reserves. The bench crew for the Mountain Lions came on determined not to go down without a fight, as followed a pair of blocked shots, a goal with 20 seconds remaining from Abby Stassi off a throw by Mikaela Carlson on a mad scramble in front of goal broke up the shutout, but did little to impact the result as the Orediggers celebrated with their fans following a 4-1 victory.
 
NOTABLES
-Putnam's goals were her first two of the season as well as the seventh and eighth of her career
-The Austin native now has two goals in each of her four seasons in a Mines uniform and Friday marked the first multi-goal game of her career, raising her career point total to 31
-McDermott extended her scoring and point streak to four matches with her eighth goal of the season in the second half, although her assist streak came to an end at three matches
-The four-game scoring streak is the second such run by the Houston product in her Mines career (10/23-11/2/22), which is tied for fourth all-time in program history
-McDermott now stands at 99 points in her career and is on the cusp of becoming the fourth player to reach the century mark in points in program history
-Lundgren logged one save on the night and allowed her first goal of the season, snapping a scoreless minutes streak of 404:20; the goal was just the second she's allowed in nine career appearances spanning 669 minutes
-15 of the 20 goals that have gone on the board for the Orediggers this season have now come in the second half of their seven matches
-The four goals for Mines in the match is the most scored by one team in the series since a 6-1 win by the Orediggers in Colorado Springs in 2016
-Seven different players have now scored in 2024 for the Orediggers
-The Mines defense held UCCS to a single shot in the first half and only four for the match while posting 15 themselves with eight on goal
-Mines improves to 18-8-2 all-time against UCCS and 10-3-1 at home
 
UP NEXT
Mines will host CSU Pueblo Sunday at 1 p.m. at Stermole Stadium in the final event Homecoming weekend.