ATHERTON, Calif. – The Colorado School of Mines men's soccer team closed out their first weekend of the season Saturday afternoon with a 1-0 loss in their second match at the Menlo Kickoff Classic. The Orediggers (0-2-0) looked to be on track to come away with a draw in the closing minutes, but a short-handed set piece goal by the Lumberjacks (1-1-0) in the final six minutes proved to be the deciding factor in another hard-fought match.
Cal Poly Humboldt controlled much of the play in the opening half, outshooting Mines 12-4 in the first 45 minutes and putting redshirt freshman Zachary MacDonald to the test in goal as he made four saves to begin the afternoon. The action remained scoreless as play resumed in the second half with MacDonald and the defense continuing to dig in their heels against a relentless attack by the Lumberjacks.
Marcus Saa had the first crack at goal in the match for the Orediggers in the 76th minute but had no luck against Alvaro Nieves.
A flurry of cards were issued in the ensuing action including a red card to CPH's Luke Gomes less than two minutes after he was assessed a caution. Now playing with a man up for the final 11 minutes, Mines looked to take advantage of the situation. Instead, it was the Lumberjacks who scored in the 84th minute on a free kick from Lam Shota to Robert Somerville after a yellow card was assessed to
Aidan Wells. After the restart,
Murray Peart had a crack at the equalizer but came up empty against Nieves. On the counter, CPH seemed to double their lead in the 90th minute from Erwin Manibusan Jr., but the goal was overturned after video review. Once play resumed for the final 38 seconds,
Andrew DeBerardinis attempted one last-chance shot to draw even, but came up empty as time expired on the 1-0 loss.
NOTABLES
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Pol Garcia Oliveras led Mines with four shots in the match
-Peart added three shots with one on goal
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Zeus Tabora made his collegiate debut with 31 minutes off the bench, as did
Noah Bills who saw 10 minutes of action in reserve
-MacDonald made five saves in goal in his collegiate debut
UP NEXT
Mines makes their 2026 Stermole Stadium debut next weekend as they open up a two-week homestand start Thursday night against Biola at 5 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.
