COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – After helping the Colorado School of Mines men's soccer team to three points and a win to begin league play last week, sophomore defender Noah Roles has been named the league's Defensive Player of the Week.
 
It is the first weekly honor for Roles in his career as he becomes the first Mines player to win the league's weekly defensive award since current assistant coach Lucas King did so the week of September 27, 2022. He is the second Oredigger this season to earn a weekly honor from the RMAC, joining Kiernan DiBella who was named Goalkeeper of the Week on September 9.
 
Roles didn't miss a step in his return to action after missing the previous two weeks. In helping lead Mines to a 5-1 Friday night in their Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference opener over South Dakota Mines, Roles scored the first goal of his career to take the early 1-0 lead. On the other side of the ball, the sophomore helped spearhead a defensive effort that held the top offensive unit in the RMAC to just eight total shots, two shots on goal and one goal after the Hardrockers entered league play averaging 4.14 goals, 15.9 shots and 9.0 shots on goal per match and outscoring teams 29-6. Thanks in part to Roles' performance, the Orediggers remained perfect in the all-time series against SDM, improving to 12-0-0.
 
Mines (2-2-4, 1-0-0) takes a trip around the Denver metro this weekend with a pair of road matches Thursday and Sunday at MSU Denver and Colorado Christian.
 
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.
 
Week 5 RMAC Players of the Week
Offensive: Miles Seminario, UCCS
Defensive: Noah Roles, Mines
Goalkeeper: Hugo Sjöberg, UCCS