CHICO, Calif. – A late night on the West Coast saw the Colorado School of Mines women's soccer team pull off a dramtic come-from-behind win in the final 11 minutes Thursday at University Soccer Stadium against Chico State by a score of 4-3. After scoring first and falling behind early in the second half, the Orediggers (4-1-0) had to rally not once but twice against the Wildcats (1-3-0) before finally netting the go-ahead score off the foot of
Caelan DeBolt in the 89th minute.
Mines struck first in the 14th minute off a throw in.
Lindsay Jeans keyed things back in play to
Bella Torres, who received the ball in the box and beat a Wildcat defender before sliding a pass to
Bella Campos for the finish. Action settled in after the opening goal of the night with neither side finding much luck creating chances in their attacking thirds. Despite the lack of opportunities, the Wildcats managed an answer late in the first half when Malia Bell headed home a free kick by Olivia Wilson to draw level at 1-1.
Chico State scored the go-ahead goal in the second half when an overaggressive attempt to run out and clear a long ball into the box by Davenport-Murrish was mishandled, allowing Ava Jara a wide-open look at goal to make it 2-1. After the restart Davenport-Murrish recovered with a save against Jamie Maas before in the 73rd minute, it looked as if
Natalie Rouse had leveled the match at 2-2. A
Jordan Bowermaster corner kick from the far side appeared to be headed home by Rouse on the near post as keeper Charlotte Mailer fell on the ball, but appeared to do so behind the goal line. No goal was called in the flow of play as several Orediggers immediately signaled for a VAR review. After play was halted and the sequence reviewed, the ruling on the field was upheld as the Wildcats remained in front by a goal and set the stage for what would be a dramatic fight to the finish.
A flurry of events in the waning moments of the match saw four goals scored in the final 10:46. In the 80th minute, Camps was taken down in cutting across the penalty area by a CSU defender and was awarded a penalty kick. After the foul was upheld by VAR review, Campos strode up and converted to level the match at 2-2. Off the ensuing kickoff, Chico State managed to break up a clear attempt as Maas deflected a ball from
Natalie Rouse. Aiyana Finley gathered up on the near side before dishing back to Maas where she spun around Torres and laced a shot off the fingertips of Davenport-Murrish to regain the lead 3-2.
With time running out, Mines sought to equalize again and did so in the 86th minute.
Jordan Bowermaster played a ball from midfield ahead to Campos at the top of the penalty area where she was met by a trio Wildcat defenders. Campos slipped a pass through traffic for
Allyson Townsend, as she lined a shot to the near post to knot things up at 3-3. Just over two minutes later, Campos was taken down again in the corner of the penalty area and after another VAR review confirmed the foul, the Orediggers were awarded another penalty shot. This time
Caelan DeBolt stepped forward to take the shot, but her attempt was denied by Mailer as the scored remained tied with time winding down.
The winning sequence came in the 89th minute when Townsend came up with a ball tapped down by CSU player off a punt by Mailer. Townsend flicked it ahead to Campos just above the arc, and in near-mirror fashion, Campos slotted a ball past two defenders to a charging DeBolt. The redshirt sophomore didn't have to wait long for redemption from her penalty miss moments earlier, as she tucked a shot inside the back post beyond the reach of Mailer to complete the dramatic comeback 4-3 win.
NOTABLES
-Campos recorded a brace with two goals for a third consecutive match while also adding two assists to extend her assist streak to three matches as well; she now has seven goals and four assists for 18 points through five matches
-Thursday night was the third two-assist match of Campos' career and first since Oct. 11 of 2024 at Fort Lewis; it was also the fourth six-point match of her career with her last coming in the RMAC Tournament quarterfinals last season on November 2 against Adams State
-With the two assists, Campos now has four or more assists in each year of her career and vaults herself into a tie for fifth on the all-time list with Reese McDermott (2021-24) and
Kaitlyn Manalili (2022-25) with 19 assists; she's also now tied for second all-time with 133 points with Anna Evans (2010-13)
-Townsend scored her second goal of the season and second in the last week, having also scored last Thursday against Angelo State
-Townsend's equalizer is the fourth-latest game-tying goal in program history at 85:30
-DeBolt's game-winner was the second go-ahead goal of her career and her first goal of the season
-DeBolt's game-winner is the fifth-latest go-ahead score in program history at 88:51
-Torres recorded her first career assist and ran her point streak to three matches, while Jeans added her second assist of the season in the win
-Mines outshot Chico State 20-5 overall in the match and 8-4 in shots on goal
-The Orediggers moved to 4-0-1 in the series all-time with Chico State and 2-0-1 as the road team
UP NEXT
The Orediggers conclude non-conference action Sunday morning with an 11 a.m. PT kickoff at Western Washington.
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, Twitter and Instagram using the handle @MinesAthletics.
