Mines (2-2-4, 1-0-0 RMAC) at #RV MSU Denver (3-2-5, 1-0-1 RMAC) – Thursday, 3:30 p.m. – Denver, Colo. [Live Stats] [RMAC Network PPV]
Mines (2-2-4, 1-0-0 RMAC) at Colorado Christian (1-7-1, 1-0-0 RMAC) – Sunday, 1:30 p.m. – Lakewood, Colo. [Live Stats] [RMAC Network PPV]

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KEEPING IT CLOSE TO HOME
The Colorado School of Mines men's soccer heads away from home for two matches this week but won't be straying too far from Golden as they make a tour of the Denver metro area. Thursday afternoon the Orediggers will head downtown to take on #RV MSU Denver before making the short trip on Highway 6 to Lakewood on Sunday for a matchup with Colorado Christian.
 
LIVE COVERAGE
This weekend's matches will be available for purchase on the RMAC Network. Free live stats will be available as well. Links for video and stats can be found on minesathletics.com.
 
RMAC NETWORK CHANGES
As was announced on June 30, this fall the RMAC Network is moving to a pay-per-view model for all events beginning with the 2025-26 season.
 
RMAC fans can purchase monthly and annual subscriptions that will provide them access to all regular-season, championship, and archived broadcasts on the RMAC Network. A monthly subscription costs $25, and an annual subscription costs $130. Single-game passes are available for $10, which grants access to a single game for 24 hours. For technical support questions, fans may submit a support ticket with Hudl Support or email the RMAC directly (rmac@rmacsports.org). For further support, fans can visit the RMAC Network Help page.
 
WEEK FIVE RECAP
In their lone action last week, Mines opened RMAC action against a new-look and upstart South Dakota Mines team that entered conference play as the top offense in the league. Under the lights at Stermole Stadium for homecoming weekend, the Orediggers showed no issues in lining up against the other STEM school in the conference as they posted a convincing 5-1 win. Noah Roles scored his first career goal with help from Abou Bakar Berthe in the 25th minute to take the lead before brothers Marc Levin and Avi Levin teamed up in the 53rd minute to double the lead to 2-0. South Dakota Mines answered with a goal less than four minutes later and had a chance to tie the match in the 59th minute on a PK, but the shot missed wide left outside the post. Mines then scored the final three goals of the night as Leo Santana scored twice in the 63rd and 83rd minutes while J McGill, playing in just his second collegiate match, scored his first goal in the 78th minute while Kiernan DiBella and the defense held SDM to just eight shots and two shots on goal.
 
THE SKIPPER
With a record of 98-37-24 (.692) overall and 68-9-10 in RMAC action 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. His career winning percentage is good for eighth among active Division II coaches with a minimum of five years of experience, and places him in the top 40 nationally across all divisions of the NCAA. 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 among the top 10 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.
 
THE CAPTAINS
Prior to opening night against Azusa Pacific, the Orediggers announced their 2025 captains with two newcomers to the role and one returner. Caden Allaire returns for his second run wearing the armband as he's joined by Luka Hanna and Carter Jansen.
 
Allaire, a transfer from Casper College, heads into his senior season as the most experienced goalkeeper on the Mines roster. Over his first two seasons, he started 24 of 26 games he appeared in and registered 89 saves against 41 goals allowed in 2,135:58 between the pipes. For his career, he's netted six wins, four shutouts and has a .685 save rate to go with a 1.73 GAA.
 
Hanna, now in his third season with Mines after playing 2022 at Tulsa, appeared in 30 matches with 11 starts in his first two seasons, scoring a goal and taking seven shots in 1,272 minutes of action and enters this fall as a key figure in the Mines midfield.
 
Jansen, a third-year player who has been a fixture on the Mines backline since his arrival in Golden in 2023, appeared in 28 matches with 22 starts heading into his junior season and logged 1,828 minutes as an outside and center back.
 
IN THE POLLS
For the second season running, Mines was tabbed to finish fifth in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference men's soccer preseason coaches poll.
 
UCCS was voted the preseason favorite this fall with five of 11 first place votes followed by Fort Lewis in second with three and defending champion CSU Pueblo in third with two. Regis was just ahead of Mines in fourth while MSU Denver was picked to finish sixth to round out the projected playoff field.
 
Nationally, Lynn remained #1 but that was about the only constant from last week's edition as Southern New Hampshire and Stanislaus State traded places in second and third. Charleston moved up one spot to fourth while Young Harris surged into the top five from ninth last week. Fort Lewis rebounded back into the Top 10 this week at #9 following a drop to #15 last week. CSU Pueblo meanwhile dropped from seventh to eleventh this week as while they remain unbeaten, they have two more draws than they do wins on the season. MSU Denver meanwhile jumped into the national conversation, earning votes this week.
 
HELLO, MY NAME IS…
Another 13 newcomers join the Orediggers for the 2025 season and make up more than one-third of this season's 36-man roster. 12 first-year players and a transfer make up the group which features a wide range of talent across the field. Learn more about the newcomers for this season here.
 
JOINING THE STAFF
A new face will be roaming the Mines bench in 2025 as Ben Fredrickson joined the program in May as the program's top assistant coach. Prior to joining the Orediggers, Fredrickson served as Real Colorado's Assistant Academy Director and head coach of the organization's U16 MLS Next program. A well-traveled coach with experience at a variety of levels, the New Zealander is no stranger to the RMAC as he played collegiately at Regis from 2010-13. He also played in the United Soccer League's second division as well as New Zealand First Division club Team Wellington. Learn more about Coach Fredrickson here.
 
Additionally, a former Oredigger All-American returns to the bench this season as Lucas King makes his coaching debut at the collegiate level. A six-year member of the Mines program thanks to the 2020 pandemic, King was a three-time All-RMAC and All-Region selection from the United Soccer Coaches and D2 CCA as well. He started 84 times in 91 matches in his five seasons of action and logged 62 points on 13 goals and 36 assists, the second-most in program history. 12 of King's assists came in the fall 2021 season, as that mark is the third-best in a season all-time.
 
CHECKING THE STANDINGS
One week of conference action is in the books and with it comes a look at the RMAC standings. UCCS leads the pack with six points after sweeping Colorado Mesa and Westminster. MSU Denver is second with four points, going 1-0-1 against Adams State and Fort Lewis on the road. Three teams are tied for third with three points each as Regis, Mines and Colorado Christian all went 1-0-0. CSU Pueblo sits sixth with two points following a pair of draws as they remain unbeaten on the season at 4-0-6. Fort Lewis, Westminster and Colorado Mesa are tied for seventh with one point each, while South Dakota Mines and Adams State are looking to overcome 0-2-0 starts to league action as October continues.
 
WEEKLY AWARD WINNER
Noah Roles became the second Oredigger to claim an RMAC weekly award this fall, as Tuesday morning he was named Defensive Player of the Week following his performance in a 5-1 win over South Dakota Mines. Read more about Roles' role in the winning effort here.
 
ALLOW ME TO INTRODUCE MYSELF
Over the last two weeks, freshman Leo Santana has seemingly put the RMAC on notice as he's found his groove on offense for the Orediggers. The Houston native currently leads Mines in points with eight behind three goals and two assists and has made contributions since the first time he set foot on the pitch at Stermole Stadium. After pointing thanks to an assist in his collegiate debut on opening night against Azusa Pacific, Santana earned a second assist against then fifth-ranked Cal State Los Angeles on September 19. He then found the net for the first time in his career on September 25 against MSU Denver and last time out against South Dakota Mines, recorded the first multi-goal performance of his career, scoring twice in the second half as part of a 5-1 win. Oh, and before we forget, he's also become a staple in the starting lineup and is among the top five freshmen in the RMAC when it comes to scoring.
 
PUT IT ON THE BOARD
The list of first time goal scorers for the Orediggers in 2025 continues to grow after last week's 5-1 win over South Dakota Mines. Noah Roles scored his first goal in the 17th match of his career, while freshman J McGill did so in just his second appearance at the collegiate level. Those two join Leo Santana, Kian Mueller, Lucas Taitt and Brady Scheinfeld who have all found the net for the first time in their careers this fall. Also, throw in the fact each of the six players mentioned above are either redshirt freshmen, true freshmen or sophomores, and it gives one reason to be hopeful for the rest of the season and beyond as the Orediggers look to reclaim their spot atop the RMAC.
 
PROVIDING IMMEDIATE RETURNS
Over the course of the season, and more specifically in recent weeks, several up-and-coming have made an immediate impact for the Orediggers and have been responsible for a large degree of the team's success this seasons. Starting with Leo Santana, the freshman recorded his first career multi-goal performance last time out against South Dakota Mines and now leads the club in goals and points. Avi Levin, who started in his debut appearance in a Mines uniform against SDM last Friday, joined Santana as the second Oredigger to earn a point in their debut this season, doing so as he assisted on a goal by his older brother Marc Levin. J McGill, playing in just his second career match Friday, scored his first goal on a dazzling play in which he was a one-man wrecking crew against the Hardrockers' defense. Couple that with Lucas Taitt's performance this season, as he now leads the team in assists, along with the performance on the back line of second-year players Noah Roles and Brady Scheinfeld and it goes to show the youth movement by the Orediggers is paying off neatly in 2025.
 
YOUTH MOVEMENT
Over the last two seasons, 22 first-year players have joined the Oredigger program and heading into 2025, make up nearly two-thirds of the 36-man roster. The expectation for new arrivals is high as the Silver and Navy look to reclaim their spot as one of the premier programs in the RMAC. Noah Roles, Kian Mueller, Smith Russell, Jaden Igarta and Josh Ary made good first impressions as they each contributed and tallied at least one point each in their debut seasons, while the rest of their class in Ethan Huet, Jake Macha, Brady Scheinfeld, Lucas Taitt and Dennis Polzin all eagerly await making their debuts after taking developmental years as freshmen. Meanwhile, this year's crop of newcomers looks to make a similar first year impact as two of the top prep goalkeepers in Colorado last year Kiernan DiBella and Zach MacDonald will seek to compete for playing time while the rest of the nine first-year field players will look to contribute as well.
 
WELL-TRAVELED VETERAN
It isn't any secret that the academic reputation of Mines brings folks from all points on the globe. Athletics just extends that reach farther as evidenced by Alaskan Simon Carricaburu. Carricaburu, a second-year Mines student, enters his first year with the varsity program after playing with the Orediggers' club program last year, is no stranger to playing at the collegiate level. After beginning his career in 2022 at Western Oregon and appearing in just three matches, he transferred to Santa Barbara City college and showed his potential, earning Second Team All-Region honors as part of a 10-7-5 season in which he tallied three points on a goal and an assist. Now back at the NCAA level, Carricaburu's experience will be something the Orediggers rely on to help bolster their defense.
 
THE BROTHERS LEVIN
Family ties are no stranger to the Mines community with multiple generations of families passing through the institution over the years. When looking at Mines athletics programs, family ties are regular occurrences. This season, a new family connection comes to Golden as Marc Levin and Avi Levin reunite in 2025. Natives of St. Louis and both graduates of Ladue Horton Watkins High School, the brothers never had an opportunity to play together at the varsity level as they'll have plenty of chances to do so over the next couple seasons.
 
Marc, a fourth-year junior, missed all of 2024 with injury but is a pivotal piece of Mines soccer history as he netted the game-winning penalty kick in the 2022 RMAC Men's Soccer Championship over CSU Pueblo. In 28 career matches, he's started 10 times and scored four times with two assists for 10 points in 722 minutes and will look to once again be a contributor as he eases his way back into the action.
 
Avi joins the program as a freshman this season after he earned a slew of high school accolades including a state championship.
 
They are the second pair of brothers to play concurrently for Mines along with Henry Saunders and Peter Saunders who joined the program 2023, and just the third pair of players with a shared last name since Baski Baker and Colin Baker (no relation) in 2013.
 
CHECKING THE STATS
Mines enters the week with a new team leader in goals and points as Leo Santana has found the net three times and along with two assists is up to eight points. Behind him, Kian Mueller, Charlie Newberry and Abou Bakar Berthe have all scored twice while Lucas Taitt, Marc Levin, Brady Scheinfeld, J McGill and Noah Roles all have a single goal to their ledgers.
 
When looking at assists, Taitt leads the way with three while Santana is joined by Mueller, Newberry and Tommy Jernigan with two. Bakar Berthe, Scheinfeld, Luke Hanna, Marc Levin and Avi Levin meanwhile all have one.
 
In goal, freshman Kiernan DiBella has led the way, starting all eight matches to date for 699:20. Against 117 shots faced, he's made 33 saves against 13 goals allowed for a 1.67 GAA and a .717 save rate. DiBella sports a 2-2-3 record with one solo shutout this season. Backing him up is Caden Allaire, who has appeared once for 20:40 and allowed just one goal coming on a penalty kick.
 
For the season, Mines is +1 in goal differential at 15-14 and averages 1.88 goals on 8.3 shots per match while opponents average 1.75 goals on 15.4 shots. The Orediggers have 16 assists on their 15 goals and have combined for 34 saves defensively. They are 0-1 on PKs and have taken 33 corner kicks. 77 times this have been whistled for fouls and 18 times been assessed a yellow card.
 
SCOUTING MSU DENVER
The Roadrunners went 1-0-1 to start league play, posting a 6-0 win at Adams State Friday before playing Fort Lewis to a 1-1 draw in Durango Sunday. MSU Denver is 2-0-3 over their last five matches including a 2-2 draw with the Orediggers on September 25, and haven't lost a match since September 19 against Cal Poly Pomona.
 
A whopping 11 different players have scored this fall for MSUD with the duo of Adan Perez and Matt Vogel leading the way with three goals apiece. Both men also have two assists and each recorded one in the first matchup the season with Mines. Max Farum and John Lucio have two goals each, while seven further Roadrunners have a single tally including Charlie Matsumoto and Charlie Lucero who scored against the Orediggers two weeks ago.
 
Robert Sumner leads MSU Denver with three assists and in addition to Perez and Vogel, Brendan O'Toole also has two assists. A further three players have a single assist to their credit in 2025.
 
Between the pipes, Nick McNeil has been the main man, starting all 10 matches for 835:27 and against 85 shots, has made 31 saves and allowed 12 goals for a 1.29 GAA and a .721 save rate. He's 3-2-5 with two solo shutouts and combined for a third with Shawn Mantey. Mantey made his second outing of the season in the rout of Adams State and this season in 64:33, has saved the only shot on goal he has faced.
 
As a team, MSU Denver is +5 in goal differential at 17-12 and averages 1.70 goals on 13.4 shots per match while limiting opponents to 1.20 goals on 8.8 shots. They have 12 assists on their 17 goals and have combined for 33 saves defensively. They have taken 57 corners kicks and are 2-2 from the spot this season on PKs. 114 times the Roadrunners have been whistled for fouls, with 16 of those instances warranting a caution.
 
SCOUTING COLORADO CHRISTIAN
Colorado Christian's conference opener at Fort Lewis on Friday night was postponed on account of weather conditions in Durango so instead they opened up RMAC play at Adams State on Sunday and found the win column for the first time with a 2-1 win over the Grizzlies. The Cougars had lost seven straight following an opening day draw with South Dakota Mines and during that stretch, lost five matches by one goal and were shutout on six occasions.
 
Three players have accounted for CCU's scoring output as Lucas Peruzo leads the was with five goals for 10 points. Salvador Fernandes is second on the club with two goals while Tiago Gomes has one.
 
Four different players have an assist for the Cougars led by Gio Carneiro's three while Gomes, Cole Foresman and Dylan Hall each have one.
 
Between the pipes, it has been a rotating cast as all three keepers on roster have all started at least one match. Freshman Campbell Wolfgram got the most recent nod in the win over Adams State and in four matches (all starts), has made 14 saves against eight goals allowed while facing 49 shots in 360 minutes. He enters the week with a 2.00 GAA and a .636 save percentage. Senior Owen Sutherland has also started all four of his appearances for 360 minutes of his own and against 49 shots faced, has made a team-leading 16 saves while also allowing eight goals for a 2.00 GAA and a .667 save rate. Junior Beckett Pomeroy meanwhile has started once in his only action and made two saves against one goal allow while facing 11 shots.
 
On the season, CCU is -9 in goal differential at 17-8 and averages 0.89 goals on 7.8 shots per match while ceding 1.89 goals on11.8 shots to opponents. They have six assists on their eight goals and have combined for 32 saves defensively. They have taken 27 corner kicks and are 2-2 on penalty kicks, while opponents have been awarded five PKs and converted four. 99 times CCU has been whistled for fouls and with that been assessed 22 yellow cards and two ejections.
 
SERIES HISTORY
Following a 2-2 draw just about two weeks ago, the series between the Orediggers and Roadrunners stands at 48-36-11 in favor of Mines. Thursday's match will be played in Denver and as the road team, Mines is 32-14-5 all-time. Their last trio to the Assembly Athletic Complex last fall resulted in a 3-1 loss, marking the third different decision in their last three trips to downtown with a 2-2 draw in 2023 and a 1-0 win in 2022.
 
When it comes to Colorado Christian, Mines leads the series 47-11-2. After seeing their 13-match winning streak snapped on the final day of the regular season in 2023 at home, the Orediggers went to Lakewood last fall and posted a 1-0 win on Halloween. As the visiting team in the series, Mines is 24-5-1 all-time and has not lost on the road to the Cougars since September 7, 2002.
 
UP NEXT
The Orediggers are back home for their next two matches against Westminster and Colorado Mesa on October 16 at 5 p.m. and October 19 as 12 p.m.
 
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.