Mines (1-1-1, 0-0-0 RMAC) vs. #5 Cal State Los Angeles (3-0-1, 0-0-0 CCAC) – Friday, 7 p.m. – Golden, Colo. [Live Stats] [RMAC Network PPV] [Tickets]
Mines (1-1-1, 0-0-0 RMAC) vs. Cal Poly Pomona (2-1-1, 0-0-0 CCAC) – Sunday, 12 p.m. – Golden, Colo. [Live Stats] [RMAC Network PPV] [Tickets]

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CONTINUING THE CALIFORNIA GAUNTLET
Non-conference action rolls on this weekend for the Colorado School of Mines men's soccer team as two more Golden State opponents will venture to Stermole Stadium this weekend starting with #5 Cal State Los Angeles Friday night before Cal Poly Pomona comes to Golden Sunday.
 
TRAFFIC ADVISORY
Fans planning to attend this weekend's matches should be aware of other events going on in and around Golden. Friday evening on September 19, Golden High School will be holding their Homecoming parade beginning at 4 p.m. Road closures in Golden will go into effect beginning at 3:15 p.m. and run until 5:30 p.m. Closures will affect Washington Avenue from 12th to 18th Streets. All streets in Golden should be re-opened by no later than 5:30 p.m., but congestion could remain and impact access to the Clear Creak Athletic Complex.
 
Sunday the Golden Gallop 5K and 10K race will take place starting at Golden High School at 7:45 a.m. The race course for both distances of the race will take runners through the Mines campus on Elm, Maple and Illinois Streets as well as past the entrance to the Clear Creak Athletics Complex on 11th Street. While the event should be concluded by the time of kickoff, there may be increased pedestrian and vehicle traffic in and around Golden.
 
FAN INFORMATION
Tickets can be purchased online in advance at minesathletics.com/tickets or at the gate on the day of the match. Mines students, faculty and staff will be admitted for free with their BlasterCard. Fans are encouraged to park in Lot K immediately to the north of Stermole Stadium. Fans as are not allowed to park in the neighborhood surrounding the Clear Creek Athletic Complex, as the City of Golden's street parking requires a permit seven days a week.
 
LIVE COVERAGE
Wednesday's match will be available for purchase on the RMAC Network. Play-by-play commentary returns this fall with Joey Feerer on the call. 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 TWO RECAP
The Orediggers suffered their first loss of the season to begin their first road trip of the season with a 4-0 decision to Point Loma Thursday night. Mines rebounded with a 2-2 draw in a wild match against Biola Saturday night. Charlie Newberry and Brady Scheinfeld each scored in the match on long throw ins from Lucas Taitt, while Kiernan DiBella made four saves in goal.
 
THE SKIPPER
With a record of 97-36-21 (.698) overall and 67-9-10 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.
 
After receiving votes in the United Soccer Coaches Top 25 last week, the Orediggers dropped from consideration this week after their 0-1-1 trip to the west coast. The top five saw some movement as Stanislaus State jumped up from #14 to second and Friday's opponent Cal State Los Angeles dropped from second to fifth. #1 Lynn, #3 CSU Pueblo and #4 Anderson all maintained their standing. Looking around the RMAC, Fort Lewis remained ninth this week while Regis received votes.
 
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.
 
PRESEASON HONORS
Heading into his third season in Golden, Ayman Bushara was named Preseason All-RMAC heading into the 2025 season. A First Team All-RMAC honoree and All-Region selection by both D2 CCA and the United Soccer Coaches as well last fall, the Air Force transfer dazzled in his first season of action after sitting out the 2023 campaign on account of transfer regulations. Bushara's season included a seven-match scoring streak that included three game-winning scores as he ended the year with nine goals and three assists for 21 points. Heading into his final collegiate season, Bushara's veteran leadership will be relied upon heavily in 2025.
 
USING YOUR HEAD
Most of the time when Mines students use their head, their solving differential equations homework or calculating the static load of a building using radial and axial load factors. Saturday night Charlie Newberry and Brady Scheinfeld used their heads to score goals in the Orediggers' 2-2 draw against Biola. In the 57th minute, Newberry netted his second career goal for the first of two equalizers in the match has he headed home a shot to the back post after Luke Hanna popped up a Lucas Taitt throw in. Then after the Eagles re-took the lead, Scheinfeld tied things once again in the 74th minute, again on a long throw in from Taitt from the other side of the field as he headed a shot inside the post. Those two goals just reaffirm, that using your head can be done in a number of applications.
 
LONG ARM OF THE LUCAS
Long throw ins can make or break scoring chances, especially when deep in a team's attacking third. Lucas Taitt was the man who in charge of those Saturday night and he delivered, as his long throws each resulted in game-tying goals for the Orediggers. Credited with an assist on each of those goals, Taitt is now on the board with his first two career points as he looked to keep it up returning home this weekend.
 
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
Three matches into the 2025 season, four different Orediggers have found the back of the net as Abou Bakar Berthe, Ayman Bushara, Charlie Newberry and Brady Scheinfeld have one goal each. Lucas Taitt leads the team with two assists and is one of six players with an assist so far. Luke Hanna, Tommy Jerningan, Marc Levin, Kian Mueller and Leo Santana all have a single assist to their ledgers.
 
In goal, Kiernan DiBella will look to shrug off a challenging second weekend at the collegiate level as he's faced 50 shots and made 10 saves against six goals allowed for a .625 save rate and a 2.00 GAA. The freshman is 1-1-1 with on shutout in 270 minutes of action.
 
Overall, the Orediggers are -2 in scoring differential at 6-4 and average 1.33 goals and 7.0 shots per match while the opposition averages 2.00 goals on 16.7 shots. Mines has seven assists on their four goals and have combined for 10 saves defensively. They have taken 11 corner kicks and are 0-1 on PKs thus far. 29 fouls have been called against Mines, with seven cautions also issued.
 
SCOUTING CAL STATE LOS ANGELES
The Golden Eagles are yet to drop a match and yet to allow a goal this season as they played Seattle Pacific to a scoreless draw last Thursday before getting back into the win column with a 1-0 win against Western Washington Saturday.
 
Four different players have scored for CSLA this fall with Geovanni Antuna, Emiliano Gutierrez, Erick Alamo and Jeancarlo Alvarez all finding the net. The fifth goal this season was an own goal by Hawai'i Hilo. Meanwhile, Johnny Gonzalez, Jose Lopez and Angel Sevillano along with Antuna and Gutierrez each have an assist this year.
 
In goal, freshman Brayden McClelland has started all four matches and played all 360 minutes on his way to a 3-0-1 record with four shutouts. Against 37 shots, he has made 13 saves and is yet to allow a goal.
 
For the season, the Golden Eagles are +5 in goal differential at 5-0 and average 1.25 goals on 13.8 shots per match while ceding just 9.3 shots per match to opponents. They have five assists on their five goals and taken 20 corner kicks on the season. CSLA has also been whistled for 47 fouls and issued six yellow cards and is 0-1 on penalty kicks.
 
SCOUTING CAL POLY POMONA
After dropping a 2-1 result to Biola on opening night, Cal Poly Pomona has gone 2-0-1 in their three matches since and is coming off a sweep of last week against Concordia Irvine and Westmont by scores of 2-1 and 6-2. They'll take on MSU Denver Friday night before making the trip to Golden Sunday.
 
In just four matches, already 10 different players have scored a goal for the Broncos led by Aleksandr Somov with three. Devin Jenkins, Marvin Gamez, Daniel Gutierrez, Sam Lena, Jakob Singh, Clement Badger, Emiliano Garcia, Daniel Hernandez and Joseph Spencer all have one goal each. Meanwhile nine players have at least one assist led by Mads Fredricksen with four. Devin Jenkins and Noah Ko have two each while Gamez, Gutierrez, Lena, Singh, Adam Benyoussef and Victor Casillas each have one.
 
Between the pipes, Luke Garciduenas has started all four matches this season and logged 315 minutes in goal. He's 2-1-0 and against 37 shots faced, has made nine saves and allowed seven goals and has a .563 save rate and a 2.00 GAA. Jack Chapman has backed him up and appeared once for 45 minutes and is 0-0-1 with an .800 save rate and a 2.00 GAA with four saves and one goal allowed against six shots faced.
 
SERIES HISTORY
Friday night will be the second all-time meeting between the Orediggers and Golden Eagles, with CSLA taking last year's meeting 4-1 in Los Angeles.
 
Sunday will be will be the eighth all-time meeting between Mines and Cal Poly Pomona, with CPP leading the series 4-1-2. The Broncos took the most recent meeting last fall by a score of 3-0 in Pomona while the last time the teams played in Golden in 2023 resulted in a 1-1 draw. The only time the Orediggers have posted a win in the series came in a neutral site match in 1996 by a score of 3-1.
 
UP NEXT
One more weekend of non-conference action awaits the Orediggers as they'll host MSU Denver Thursday September 25 at 7 p.m. before hopping a flight to Salt Lake City to take on Westminster Sunday September 28 at 11 a.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.