Mines (5-2-2, 1-1-1) vs. Colorado Christian (1-5-4, 0-3-1) – Friday, 7 p.m. – Golden, Colo. [Live Stats] [RMAC Network] [Tickets]
Mines (5-2-2, 1-1-1) vs. MSU Denver (2-4-4, 1-2-1) – Sunday, 12 p.m. – Golden, Colo. [Live Stats] [RMAC Network] [Tickets]

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HOMECOMING WEEKEND
A pair of metro area foes await the Colorado School of Mines women's soccer team on Homecoming weekend at Stermole Stadium as they wrap up a two-week stint at home. Friday night the Orediggers will take on Colorado Christian before hosting MSU Denver in game one of a Sunday afternoon doubleheader with the men's team.
 
LIVE COVERAGE
This weekend's matches will be available to watch with a subscription to the RMAC Network. Free live stats will be available as well. Links for video and stats can be found on minesathletics.com.
 
RMAC NETWORK 
The RMAC Network continues to have a pay-per-view model for all events. 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 $12.50, which grants access to a single game for 24 hours. For technical support questions, fans can contact Hudl Support or email the RMAC directly (rmac@rmacsports.org). For further support, fans can visit the RMAC Network Help page.
 
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.
 
WEEKEND FORECAST
Fall has arrived in Colorado as temperatures begin to feel more seasonal. Friday's forecast calls for a high of 76 with plenty of sunshine and clear skies with east winds at seven miles per hour. Sunday looks idyllic for a full day of action at Stermole, with a high of 71, plenty of sun and northeast winds at seven miles per hour.
 
AT THE HELM
2026 marks the 17th season leading Mines for Kevin Fickes, the program's winningest head coach. With a career mark of 263-46-47 (.805), he ranks eighth in all of the NCAA and fourth in Division II among head coaches with at least five years of experience when it comes to winning percentage. One of two RMAC coaches with 200 career victories, under his direction Mines has overseen 41 All-America selections, 21 Academic All-America selections, 93 all-conference honorees and 34 RMAC major award winners. Fickes has also guided Mines to seven RMAC regular season titles and 10 RMAC Tournament crowns and made 16 consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances.
 
WEEK 5 RECAP
The Orediggers posted a winless weekend to open their two-week home stand with a scoreless draw against Black Hills State Friday night before falling 2-1 to Regis on Sunday. Friday against BHSU, Keira Garcia recorded three saves in goal in a shutout performance in her 2026 debut. Sunday meanwhile the Orediggers fell behind early and rallied to tie the Rangers, but a second half score by RU was the difference. Natalie Rouse scored her second goal of the season in the waning moments of the opening half, finding her self on the back end of a Jordan Bowermaster corner kick.
 
THE CAPTAINS
A seasoned group of veterans will be wearing the "C" this fall for the Orediggers. Bella Campos and Natalie Rouse enter their second seasons as captains, while Gaby Guerrero rounds out the on-field leadership group. Campos is coming off her second consecutive RMAC Player of the Year award after scoring 20 goals with four assists for 44 points. Rouse, who missed most of 2024 with injury, returned in 2025 to earn her second RMAC Defensive Player of the Year award after scoring five times from her center back position and anchoring a defense that posted nine shutouts. Guerrero was named Honorable Mention All-RMAC last fall as a standout midfielder who scored twice with an assist.
 
IN THE POLLS
Mines topped August's RMAC Preseason Coaches' Poll followed closely by Colorado Mesa and UCCS. Fort Lewis and Regis rounded out the top five followed by Westminster, MSU Denver, Colorado Christian, CSU Pueblo and Western Colorado in the top 10. Adams State, Black Hills State and New Mexico Highlands rounded out the 13-team rankings.
 
FIVE YEARS OF ELIGIBILITY PASSES
In early August, NCAA Division II passed a sweeping change to eligibility rules that now gives all student-athletes five seasons of eligibility in a five-year span, and eliminates redshirting. It will apply to this year's incoming freshmen, and returning players can either convert to the new rule or be grandfathered into continuing with the old four-year model, whichever is more beneficial. The new rules supersede the previous freshman rule that allowed them to play in up to four games while still redshirting. 
 
NCAA CHANGES POSTSEASON PROCESS
Another significant change coming to NCAA Division II is how they select the postseason championship field. Playoff selections will now be handled solely by the NCAA Power Index (NPI) instead of regional committees, removing the human element from the process; NPI takes into account winning percentage and strength of schedule, quality wins, and home/away weights, rewarding challenging schedules and road wins more so than in years past.
 
NCAA ACTIVE CAREER SCORING LEADER
Heading into week five of the season, Bella Campos continues to lead all levels of NCAA soccer in both goals scored and points. With action underway across all three divisions, Campos is now one of two players in the entire country with more than 50 career goals, as she sits with 58 after a hot start to 2026. Catawba's Bree Ehmer as she's up to 51 career goals. Eowyn Lapp of Division III Gordon is third with 47 goals, while Alabama's Larkin Thomason is the top Division I player with 45 goals and is fifth on the active scoring list. Shifting to look at points, Campos is also the only active player with more than 130 points as she sits with 136. Ehmer moved north of 120 with two goals over the weekend and is second with 121, while Jordan Lange of DIII North Central is third with 117. The first DI player on the list is once again Thomason, who has 106 points to tie for sixth with Olivia Clemons of DIII Washington. A total of 11 players nationally have 100 or more career points.
 
ONE OF THE BEST
Bella Campos has long since cemented herself as one of the greatest offensive players in Mines program history. Campos enters the week with 58 career goals, 20 career assists and 136 career points. She's taken over sole possession of second in both goals and points from Anna Evans (2010-13) and moved past Reese McDermott (2021-24) and Kaitlyn Manalili (2022-25) into fifth in assists. In doing so, Campos is the fifth player in program history with 20 or more assists in a career and is now two back of Acacia Ortiz (2015-18) for fourth and three behind Evans for third. Additionally, Campos's 281 shots are good for fourth on the all-time list, seven back of McDermott for third. Perhaps the most impressive number is the fact that Campos has scored on 58 of the 132 shots on goal she's taken in her career. That latter number still ranks fifth all-time and is three back of Megan Woodworth (2009-12)'s total of 135. For those keeping track at home, that is a .470 scoring rate in her career when Campos puts a ball on frame.
 
LONG TIME COMING
Prior to Friday night, it had been 1,106 days since Keira Garcia had seen regular season action for the Orediggers. Her last appearance was a 2-1 loss to Seattle Pacific in a match in which she started but played only the first half, allowing a goal and making two saves. That season, all four goalies on roster (Garcia, Emma Carstens, Allie Lundgren and Sadie Wolf) saw time with Wolf emerging as the #1 with 18 starts in 20 appearances. After Lundgren emerged as the #1 in 2024 and 2025, Garcia didn't see action but kept ready as she awaited her opportunity. That opportunity came Friday night against Black Hills State as the senior made her fifth career appearance and third start, shutting out the Yellow Jackets with three saves for her second career clean sheet. With Mines finding themselves in relatively unfamiliar territory in the conference standings with the calendar turning to October, Garcia's veteran leadership in goal may see her get the nod more often than not over the final nine matches of the season as the Orediggers look to make a run.
 
CHECKING THE STANDINGS
Two weeks into conference play, Mines finds themselves in an unfamiliar spot mired in the midfield with four points. Regis and Colorado Mesa lead the way at 4-0-0 with 12 points followed by upstart Black Hills State at 3-0-1 with 10 points. UCCS is fourth at 3-1-0 and nine points ahead of Fort Lewis in fifth with six points and a mark of 2-2-0. Westminster is sixth at 1-1-2 with five points, while Mines is tied for seventh with MSU Denver with four points while the sides have records of 1-1-1 and 1-2-1 in league action respectively. Adams State is ninth with three points and a mark of 1-2-0 while CSU Pueblo (0-2-1), Western Colorado (0-3-1) and Colorado Christian (0-3-1) are all tied for 10th with one point. New Mexico Highlands meanwhile brings up the rear at 0-3-0 as they still seek their first win of 2026.
 
CHECKING THE STATS
Bella Campos was held scoreless over the weekend but remains the team leader on offense in goals with eight and assists with five. Allyson Townsend is second on the team with three goals, while Bella Torres and Natalie Rouse have each scored twice. Gaby Guerrero, Natalie Mezarina, Caelan DeBolt and Finley Ewald have each scored once. Guerrero meanwhile has three assists on the year followed by Lindsay Jeans with two. Torres, Mezarina, Jordan Bowermaster, Sam Forde and Taylor Johnson-Balding all have one.
 
In goal, freshman Brekyn Davenport-Murrish started the first seven matches of the season and in 630 minutes against 66 shots faced, made 12 saves against nine goals allowed for a 1.29 GAA and a .571 save percentage with one shutout. Keira Garcia made her season debut over the weekend, starting both matches to open the home stand. In 180 minutes, she faced 17 shots, made six saves and allowed two goals for a 1.00 GAA and a .750 save percentage while posting a shutout in her first action of the fall.
 
On the fall, Mines has outscored teams 20-11 and averages 2.22 goals on 20.4 shots per match while allowing 1.22 goals on 9.1 shots to opponents. They have 15 assists on their 20 goals and are 1-3 on penalties. The Orediggers have made 18 saves in goal, and taken 62 corner kicks. They have been called for 48 fouls and issued three yellow cards.
 
SCOUTING THE COUGARS
Colorado Christian dropped a pair of road matches at UCCS and Adams State last weekend by scores of 3-1 and 1-0 as they're still looking for their first RMAC win of the fall and first win overall since September 4 at Chaminade.
 
Just three players have scored this fall for the Cougars, with Alexis Byrd accounting for four of the team's six goals scored. Brooke Berens and Kayla Truong have each scored once. Four players have one assist each this fall, as Berens, Danel Hach, Olivia Martin and Noelle Mingo make up the rest of the offensive production.
 
In goal, Kenzie Kunitz has started all nine matches in which she has appeared for 810 minutes. In that time, she's faced 90 shots and allowed 10 goals while making 31 saves for a 1.11 GAA and a .756 save percentage while posting three shutouts. Mia Mares has started once for her only appearance and in 90 minutes, faced five shots, allowed two goals and made two saves for a 2.00 GAA and a .500 save percentage.
 
As a team, CCU has been outscored 12-6 this fall and averages just 0.60 goals on 10.8 shots per match while allowing 1.20 goals on 9.4 shots to opposing teams. They have four assists on their six goals and have taken 39 corner kicks. CCU has combined for 33 saves in goal. They have been whistled for 79 fouls and issued five yellow cards.
 
SCOUTING THE ROADRUNNERS
MSU Denver posted split results last weekend with a 4-0 win over New Mexico Highlands in Denver after the match was moved back to the Metro from Las Vegas on account of weather, before being blown out 4-0 on the road by UCCS. They'll head south to play CSU Pueblo Friday before reversing course and heading to Golden Sunday.
 
Five players have scored for the Roadrunners in 2026, led by Grace Johnson with her three goals. Jaslyn Sanders, Addison Mandeville and Maya Woods have all scored twice while Addison Osilka rounds out the scoring with one goal. Meanwhile, Sandra Swartz leads MSUD with two assists with Johnson, Sanders, Ella Castle, Tatum Flynn and Madrid Mack all recorded one assist so far.
 
In goal, all three keepers on roster for the Roadrunners have seen time. Division I transfer Morgan Shirley has led the way, starting all eight of her appearances for 675:02 and against 69 shots faced has made a team-high 25 saves and allowed right goals for a 1.07 GAA and a .758 save percentage with three shutouts. Kiley Hyde started the first two matches of the season, and in 180 minutes against 15 shots allowed four goals and made four saves to post a GAA of 2.00 and a .500 save percentage. Mariah Fletemeyer saw her first collegiate action off the bench last weekend, appearing twice for 44:58 and against nine shots, made two saves and allowed one goal for a 2.00 GAA and .667 save percentage while combining with Shirley on a shutout of NMHU.
 
On the year, MSU Denver is -3 in goal differential at 13-10 and averages 1.00 goals and just 6.5 shots per match while allowing 1.30 goals on 9.3 shots to the opposition. They have seven assists on their 10 goals, and have made 33 saves in goal. The Roadrunners have taken 37 corner kicks while being called for 79 fouls and issued five cautions.

SERIES HISTORY
Mines has never lost to Colorado Christian and enters Friday night on a 27-match winning streak as part of a 29-0-1 record. The Orediggers are 15-0-0 all-time when playing CCU at home. Last year, Mines turned in a 1-0 win in Lakewood for the 250th win of head coach Kevin Fickes' career. The teams last met in Golden in 2024 in a match which Mines won 5-0. The only time the Orediggers haven't won against the Cougars with a 1-1 draw in Lakewood all the way back in 2006.
 
Against the Roadrunners, Mines is 20-7-8 all-time and riding a four-match winning streak into Sunday. Last season, the Orediggers rolled to a 4-0 win in Denver. The last meeting in Golden saw Mines improve to 14-3-1 all-time at home with a 2-1 result thanks to the latest game-winner in regulation off a Reese McDermott free kick at 89:53. MSU Denver's last win in the series came all the way back in 2013 with a 3-1 win in Golden. Since 2014, the Orediggers are 13-0-4 with a nine-match winning streak included along the way.
 
UP NEXT
Mines hits the road for the next two weeks, starting with trips to UCCS and Western Colorado October 9 and 11.
 
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, X and Instagram using the handle @MinesAthletics.