GOLDEN, Colo. – The Colorado School of Mines men's soccer team was dealt another hard to swallow result Friday night at Stermole Stadium with a 3-2 loss to South Dakota Mines to conclude non-conference action. The Orediggers (0-6-2) went up first late in the opening frame and doubled their advantage shortly after halftime, but three unanswered goals by the Hardrockers (3-1-2) in the final 28 minutes saw them emerge with the win.
90 seconds into the night South Dakota Mines threatened with a pair of early shots including a miss off the crossbar by Lucas Miranda. After a pair of early saves by
Kiernan DiBella, his opposite number in goal Abdo Salem Abdullah had to be helped off the field in the 18th minute following a non-contact injury on a crosser by the Orediggers that sailed out of bounds. The Orediggers greeted the new man in goal, Claudio Otto, with a near-miss off the back post by
Carlo Kobelt in the 28th minute before
Murray Peart scored in the 32nd minute on a ball from
Pol Garcia Oliveras to put Mines on top heading to halftime.
It took all of 76 seconds for the Orediggers to double their lead after play resumed, as Garcia Oliveras found himself on the back end of a free kick from about 35 yards out by
Kaoru Kato. The Spaniard managed to get just enough of his head on the ball to flick it past Otto to double the lead to 2-0. After two more saves from DiBella, the Hardrockers broke through in the 52nd minute when Nickolas North scored on a long throw in from Shon West that was headed through by Rider Grow.
After Otto and DiBella traded saves, South Dakota Mines knotted things at 2-2 in a similar fashion to their first goal, as a long throw off the other side of the field by West was headed home by Grow in the 63rd minute. After a flurry of Orediggers substitutions,
Marco Vecchini and Peart each had a shot on goal but were denied by Otto. The difference came in the 82nd minute when a shot by Julen Artega was saved by DiBella, but pulled him off his line. The rebound was gather by Kaulden Hood who played it to Even Henricksen as DiBella and the defense were unable to recover in time to prevent the go-ahead score.
With time winding down, Mines redoubled their efforts as they looked for an equalizer of their own.
Cody O'Brien and
Avi Levin each took aim in the closing minutes, but had no luck getting by Otto in goal as the Hardrockers picked up the result 3-2.
NOTABLES
-Peart scored his second goal of the season to become the first Oredigger with multiple goals this fall
-Garcia Oliveras recorded his first three-point night, scoring his first career goal and adding his second assist in as many matches
-Kato returned to play Friday night and recorded his first career assist as well
-DiBella ended the night with six saves in goal
-Mines posted their highest shot total of the season Friday night with 15 and also put a season-best seven shots on frame
UP NEXT
With non-conference play in the books, Mines will embark on Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference action next week with a return trip to South Dakota Mines in the lone match of the weekend on Friday.
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.
