DENVER, Colo. – The #11 Colorado School of Mines women's soccer team turned in one of their best performances of the season Sunday afternoon at the Assembly Athletic Complex as they routed MSU Denver 4-0. The Orediggers (6-2-1, 4-1-0) raced out to a three-goal lead in the first half before adding a fourth in the second half while shutting out the Roadrunners (1-6-4, 1-4-1) as they raced their way to three more points to keep pace atop the RMAC standings.
 
The seventh minute of action saw the Orediggers fire the opening salvo on the first shot of the match. Following a quick reset after a botched MSUD corner kick, Mines quickly advanced the ball up the near side of the field. A brilliant display of passing with Allie Lundgren's goal kick saw five different players play a touch and get the ball across midfield in just 10 seconds. The last pass was a one touch from Campos that allowed Afton Rasco to run the ball down in space with Roadrunner defenders trying to chase her down. Rasco cut inside toward the corner of the 18 before splitting a pair of navy kits to find a cutting Lindsay Jeans at the top of the six, who came out on top of a one-on-one with the keeper Kayla Caballero. Jeans tucked her shot inside the near post for her second goal in the last four matches to cap a sequence that took just 22 seconds to develop from start to finish.
 
Lundgren made her first save of the afternoon in in the eighth minute shortly after the restart, turning back Monica Yoder before doing the same to Jenelle Arenibas in the 10th minute as the Roadrunners looked to equalize quickly but had no success.
 
The Oredigger advantage doubled late in the opening half as the first career goal from Annelise Rojo let many in the stadium stunned. After an errant pass by the Roadrunners near midfield, Mines countered had had something in the works with Sam Forde and Rojo but a brief reset came when the Roadrunners played the ball out of bounds into the Mines bench. Jolie Jiricek handled the throw in deep in the attacking third and tried to find Rasco just inside the penalty area, but the ball was kicked back out by a Roadrunner defender. Unfortunately for MSUD but fortunate for Mines, the ball came right to the feet of Rojo who laced a high arcing shot off the hard angle that made most in the stadium think it was going to miss high over the bar, but instead it floated over the head of Caballero to the back post and in to make it a 2-0 lead in the 38th minute of action.
 
It didn't remain a two-score game for long as Mines quickly made it a 3-0 lead just over three minutes later. Following a free kick and a throw in, a corner kick out of the near side from Jiricek caromed of several players starting with Natalie Rouse and Gaby Guerrero before an attempted clear by the Roadrunners. Rouse, who had eased her way back from the top of the six found her self out near the penalty spot to collect the clear attempt, turning it right back around with a one-timer down the middle of goal over Caballero's reach to keep up the attack.
 
After action resumed in the second half, Mines continued to press home their attack as in the 60th minute they struck again. An MSU Denver turnover again saw the Orediggers quickly counter back the other way as Rasco played a ball from midfield up the far side to Campos who was one-on-one with a defender. Campos worked her way inside the penalty area and got a step on freshman Victoria Osbourne, who took her down from behind making no play on a ball to draw the referee's whistle for the PK. Campos then positioned the ball to her liking at the spot and buried the penalty try inside the near post as Caballero guessed correctly but failed to make the save.
 
That score ended up being the final as both teams emptied their benches to play out the final minutes of action. Emma Thomas took over in goal for Mines and kept the clean sheet intact with a save in the 77th minute almost immediately after checking in as the Orediggers closed out their road trip with the 4-0 victory.
 
NOTABLES
-Jeans' goal was her second of the season and of her career
-Rasco's assist was her fourth of the season and now puts in sole possession of the team lead in that department
-Rojo's goal was the first of her career and comes in her seventh match in a Mines uniform; she's the fourth Oredigger this season to score their first career goal
-Rouse's goal was her second of the season, ninth of her career and first since September 6 against Lubbock Christian; it is also the first goal of her career not to come directly off a set piece, but was still a result of a set piece
-Campos' goal was her eighth of the season and second by way of a penalty shot
-Carly Walter made her collegiate debut in the match, checking in for the final seven minutes of action in the first half
-Lundgren checked out after 76 minutes and ended her day with two saves; with her first save of the game, she reached the century mark in saves for her career and became just the seventh player in program history with 100 saves
-Thomas made her second appearance of the season and made her first career save to combine with Lundgren on the shutout
-Mines' three goals in the first half are their most in a period since October 27 of last season when they scored three times in the second half at Adams State
 
UP NEXT
Mines heads back to Stermole Stadium for their next four matches starting next weekend when they host #15 UCCS on Friday October 17 at 6:30 p.m. before taking on Western Colorado Sunday October 19 at 2:30 p.m. as part of a doubleheader with the men's team. Mines will honor this year's seven seniors on Senior Day prior to the match the Mountaineers.
 
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.