LAKEWOOD, Colo. – The eleventh-ranked Colorado School of Mines women's soccer team returned to action on the road Friday morning at Trailblazer Stadium and turned in one of their best statistical performances of the season to record a 1-0 win over Colorado Christian.
Gaby Guerrero scored the game-winner for the Orediggers (6-2-1, 3-1-0) in the closing minutes of the first half while the defense stymied the Cougars (1-6-3, 0-3-2) for all 90 minutes to earn head coach
Kevin Fickes his 250th career win at the helm of the program.
It was all Mines from the opening whistle as the Orediggers pressed home their attack early and often in the opening period.
Bella Campos took the first crack at Mia Mares in the 6th minute before six more shots went on the board between the seventh and 23rd minutes as Campos along with
Jolie Jiricek each put a shot on frame but with no success.
Afton Rasco had a look in the 36th minute while
Natalie Rouse had a try miss just over the crossbar off a corner kick in the 38th minute, but persistence paid off for Mines as they finally broke through in the 43rd minute.
A CCU goal kick out to midfield was won by the Orediggers and gathered on the near sideline by
Natalie Mezarina. The freshman passed back passed back to
Jolie Jiricek who advanced to ball up field to Campos. Campos gained possession around the 25-yard line on the dual-purpose venue before dishing back out wide to Mezarina who was racing up the near sideline. Mezarina gathered and took a few touches before centering the ball back to Campos atop the penalty area who made a quick touch pass to
Gaby Guerrero at the top of the arc. Guerrero had a good look and fired through a sea of powder blue kits to the high left corner of goal to take a 1-0 lead.
As play resumed, Mines looked to carry their momentum and build their lead in the second half, but adjustments during the intermission made by the Cougars defensively limited opportunities to do so. After the Cougars had a shot miss wide right in the 54th minute,
Annelise Rojo was denied by Mares in the 63rd minute as it remained 1-0.
Perhaps the best chance of the match for Colorado Christian came in the 74th minute as a build up on the near side resulted in a back post shot from Faith Grady that just missed wide outside the post.
The final two shots of the match came from the feet of Campos down the stretch as both teams went to their benches late with Mines looking to maintain their advantage and CCU looking to spark a rally. In the end, it was well-played final 15 minutes with considerable ball control and countering that allowed the Orediggers to prevail with the 1-0 win.
NOTABLES
-Guerrero's goal was her first of the season and second of her career; it comes almost a year to the day of her last goal which came on the road at Fort Lewis on October 11 of last season
-Campos recorded her third assist of the season, moving her into a tie for the team lead with Rasco and Manalili
-Mezarina was also credited with an assist on the goal by Guerrero, the first of her career as she raises her season point total to three
-Lundgren and the defense turned in their fourth shutout of the season with their best performance to date, allowing just four total shots with none on goal
-Gabriela Rodríguez made her first career start Friday and played the full 90 for the first time as well
-Mines tied their season-high in shots Friday and outshot CCU 19-7 while also taking a season-high eight corner kicks
-Head coach
Kevin Fickes becomes the 25th active NCAA Division II coach to record 250 career wins and just the 11th to accomplish the feat at one school
-The milestone win comes just over four years to the day of his 200th career win, which came on October 6, 2022 and was also at Trailblazer Stadium against Colorado Christian
-Fickes joins men's basketball coach Pryor Orser (474), volleyball coach Jamie Magalei (374) and former men's basketball and baseball coach Jim Darden (394 & 326) as the only head coaches at Mines to record 250 career wins leading a program
-Mines remains unbeaten in the all-time series with CCU, improving to 29-0-1 against the Cougars and 14-0-1 on the road
UP NEXT
Mines closes their four-match road trip when they head downtown to take on MSU Denver Sunday afternoon.
Fans can keep up with Mines women's soccer on X 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.
