GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. – It was a blustery, overcast and eventually rainy afternoon Sunday at Community Hospital Unity Field as the Colorado School of Mines men's soccer team earned their first points in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference play under head coach
Ben Fredrickson with a come-from-behind 1-1 draw against Colorado Mesa. The Mavericks (4-2-6, 2-1-2) struck first in the opening 10 minutes, while the Orediggers (0-10-3, 0-4-1) rallied for the result in the final 10 minutes with the equalizer coming off the foot of freshman
Pol Garcia Oliveras.
Colorado Mesa scored first just 6:57 into the match. A short corner by Richie Tabares Ochoa was played back to him before a service into the box was headed home at the top of the six by Edoardo Oliveri from the near post back across goal just beyond the reach of
Noah Hildreth. The goal ended up the only significant action of the opening period. Mines attempted four shots in the first 45 minutes with three of them being blocked by the Maverick defense, while two cautions were issued to CMU's George Jones and Matteo Bonelli.
Noah Hildreth rebounded from the early goal to record two saves down the stretch heading to halftime.
Colorado Mesa continued to control the flow of the match as play resumed in the second half, maintaining their advantage in possession and limiting chances for the Orediggers while keeping up pressure on offense. That pressure resulted in a pair of chances that nearly doubled the deficit in the 69th and 70th minutes, as Tabares Ochoa banged a shot off the crossbar before Jaxon Dowling put a ball on frame that was saved by Hildreth.
With time winding down, Mines rallied for an equalizer with less than 10 minutes left in regulation. After earning a throw in on the far side of the field,
Cody O'Brien keyed the action back to order as he flipped the ball in to
Pol Garcia Oliveras. The freshman maintained possession, fighting through contact by a CMU defender and getting just enough space to squeeze off a shot and score on the near post to knot things up at 1-1. Each side had a chance at the go-ahead score in the final minutes. Hildreth stepped up to deny Stefanos Christodoulakis shortly after the restart, while Nathan Beck turned away Garcia Oliveras in the 86th minute. Two last-minute tries by the Mavericks were both blocked by the Mines defense as time expired on the 1-1 result.
NOTABLES
-Garcia Oliveras took over the team lead in goals with his fourth of the season Sunday
-Hildreth returned to action in goal for his fifth appearance of the year, and made five saves
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Braedan Wallace made his collegiate debut Sunday, starting and playing all 90 minutes
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Daniel Bruno made his first career start Sunday as well and played 43 minutes
-Mines took nine shots in the match, led by Garcia Oliveras with four
UP NEXT
The Orediggers are back home at Stermole Stadium for three of their final five dates of the season, starting with two matches next weekend on Thursday and Sunday against Adams State and #14 Fort Lewis.
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.
