COLORADO SPRINGS – The Colorado School of Mines women's soccer team battled back from an early deficit Friday to earn a draw with a 1-1 result in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference play with UCCS. After the Mountain Lions (8-3-2, 4-2-1) went on the board early, the Orediggers (7-2-3, 3-1-2) battled back to equalize right before halftime before the defense dug in their heels in the second half to earn a critical point in the league standings.
UCCS didn't waste any time getting on the board first, scoring in the 10th minute thanks to Malia Groshong's point blank header off an Elise Broberg corner kick. The service from the far side was headed across goal, leaving the Orediggers without much chance to prevent the opening goal of the match. With more than 80 minutes of soccer left, the Orediggers went about trying to level the score back.
Bella Campos and
Lindsay Jeans each put Lucy Kapranos to the test in goal but had no success getting past her.
The Mountain Lions nearly made it 2-0 in the 24th minute when Abby Stassi's shot banged off the left post for a near-miss. Right before halftime, Mines knotted things up thanks to Campos, as she headed home a point-blank shot of her own from a volley by
Finley Ewald with 2:50 left in the half. One final shot before the break from Brooke Pavlich banged off the crossbar in the last minute before the action paused for halftime.
The 1-1 score at halftime ended up the final score as well. Despite putting up a whopping 16 shots in the second half, UCCS put just two on frame and had a hard time manufacturing quality chances against Mines over the final 45 minutes. The Orediggers similarly had a hard time getting anything going on offense, as they were limited to just four shots for the remainder of the match. One of those was a try by
Natalie Rouse, as she tried to head home a
Gaby Guerrero free kick but missed high over the bar in the 54th minute. Chances for the Mountain Lions came in bunches, most notably around the 86th minute as a flurry of four shots from Luka Johnson and Mattea Morris resulted in three blocks by the Mines defense and a miss high left before time expired on the 1-1 result.
NOTABLES
-Campos scored her 12th goal of the season and 62nd of her career Friday and has now scored in three consecutive matches for the second time this fall
-Ewald recorded her first career assist on the Campos equalizer
-
Keira Garcia made two saves in goal
-The Orediggers earned a point remain in sixth in the RMAC standings
-The Mountain Lions outshot Mines 23-11 overall in the match, but just 4-3 in shots on goal
-Mines and UCCS have played to a draw in each of their last three matches dating back to last season's RMAC semifinals
UP NEXT
The Orediggers head to Western Colorado Sunday for a 1 p.m. contest.
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.
