2019 NCAA Division II Men's Soccer Championship [Tournament Central]
#14 Mines (13-3-4) vs. Texas A&M-International (12-6-1) – Thursday, 6 p.m. PT – Azusa, Calif. – [Live Stats] [Live Video]
Winner at #1 Azusa Pacific (18-0-0) – Saturday, 6 p.m. PT – Azusa, Calif. – [Live Stats] [Live Video]
 

---

THE BIG DANCE
The #14-ranked Colorado School of Mines Men's Soccer team begins a whole new season on Thursday night as the Orediggers open their run in the 2019 NCAA Men's Soccer Tournament. As the #8 seed, Mines faces off against ninth-seeded Texas A&M-International on the campus of Azusa Pacific University in California. It marks the Orediggers' third straight appearance in the big dance and the ninth in program history. In the single-elimination tournament, winners move on to the next round and losers see their season come to a close. Many say that only one team ends its season with a win. That's not totally true in soccer, but fans get the pictures. Survive and advance is the name of the game in November soccer.
 
WEATHER REPORT
At the time of writing this preview, it is raining in Azusa, Calif. However, kickoff on Thursday night looks to bring mostly cloudy skies and a temperature near 60 degrees. The chance for precipitation is only 10 percent, but the humidity projects around 80 percent. Air movement hints only a slight breeze under five miles per hour. All that said, it could potentially be a muggy, miserable night on the pitch in California. Fans planning to attend may be better off in light layers with short sleeves underneath to account for the humidity. Should Mines advance to Saturday's match, clear skies and a high of 75 degrees fill the forecast. By that time, the humidity should be down to 40 percent with no chance of precipitation.
 
LOOKING BACK
Mines secured its third straight bid to the NCAA Tournament thanks to a thrilling, shootout victory over Regis last Friday in the RMAC Tournament Championship match. After 110 minutes of action, the score was tied 1-1 making the official result a draw for both teams. The Orediggers' goal came off the foot of true freshman Ian Kugler thanks to the assist from Ben Overholt. However, Regis found the equalizer thanks to Pascal Von Matthey. That led to a penalty-kick shootout to decide which team would claim the conference's automatic qualifier. The showdown lasted nine rounds with both teams missing twice through eight. However, in the final frame, Drew Johnson made the critical stop that punched Mines' ticket to the big dance. Johnson earned RMAC Tournament MVP honors while Jason Zobott, Patrick Allan, Lucas King, Ford Edwards and Ben Overholt earned all-tournament team accolades.
 
SCOUTING TAMIU
Texas A&M-International University earned its first-ever NCAA Tournament berth thanks to an overall record of 12-6-1 and a conference mark of 7-3-0. Members of the Lone Star Conference, the Dustdevils advanced to their conference tournament semifinals before bowing out to eventual champion Midwestern State by a score of 4-1. A hot start to the season for TAMIU featured a 8-1-1 record through its first 10 games. The lone draw came against Dixie State and the loss came at the hand of St. Edward's – both teams Mines beat. As a team, the Dustdevils average 2.16 goals per game and surrender 1.32 goals to their opponents. Also of note, TAMIU ranks #3 in the nation with six red cards on the year. It also ranks #6 in the country due to 47 yellow cards this season. Individually, D2CCA First-Team All-Region honoree Ruben Nielsen leads the team with 19 goals and eight assists. He also boasts 80 shots and 42 shots on goal in 2019. Both those numbers rank top-10 in DII in per-game rankings. Josh Jones is the starting goalkeeper, carrying a 1.32 goals-against average with 61 saves and 25 goals against.
 
WHAT'S A DUSTDEVIL
Texas A&M-International University uses Dustdevils (one word) as the nickname for its athletic teams. In reality, Dustdevil as one word is not actually a word at all. However, as two words, dust devil is defined as a small whirlwind or air vortex over land, visible as a column of dust and debris. The institution is located in Laredo, Texas, on the U.S.-Mexico border. With a climate defined as semiarid featuring high temperatures of 67 degrees in January and 100.1 in August, it would seem there is plenty of dust and debris to make Dustdevils an appropriate nickname for the southern school. Also, for those who may care, the elevation of Laredo, Texas, is 438 feet – slightly lower than Golden's 5,675 feet of elevation.
 
SCOUTING AZUSA PACIFIC
The Azusa Pacific Men's Soccer program made history in its conference this with the PacWest's first undefeated program in the regular season. In fact, APU is the only program without a loss or draw in all of NCAA Division II. Through 18 wins and no losses, APU's average margin of victory was 2.5 goals. The Cougars recorded eight shutouts and one overtime win, which came against Western Washington who defeated Mines in overtime earlier this season.  Azuza Pacific's other notable victory was a 4-3 decision over Cal Poly Pomona who also made the NCAA Tournament. Three different individuals finished the season with double-digit goals. James Ndubueze led the way on 17 goals and two assists. In goal, Brendan Fix and Nathanael Linquist split the starting duties and finished with 13 combined goals against behind 33 saves. As a team, APU averages 3.28 goals per game and surrenders less than one goal per game to its opponents. The Cougars also give up just 7.0 shots per game to their opposition.
 
COUGARS – HOW ORIGINAL
Once again, Mines is potentially facing a team that carries the nickname Cougars. Fans who keep track of these previews know that Cougars are the same thing as Mountain Lions. That means, if the Orediggers advance to Saturday's match, they will have played the same mascot four times in 2019. That brings us back to a previous narrative.  The mountain lion/cougar/puma (take your pick) holds the Guinness record for the animal with the highest number of names – over 40 designations in English alone. There are also 35 college teams across all divisions that use the nickname Cougars. Three others adopted the puma nickname with two catamount programs and two mountain lion mascots. This means 40 programs in collegiate athletics essentially have the same nickname. Yet… no school (to our knowledge) goes by the blowfish, walrus or praying mantis. Just some food for thought.
 
COUGAR SOCCER COMPLEX
The Cougar Soccer Complex is the home pitch for Azusa Pacific Soccer and also plays host to this weekend's matches. Here's what the author knows for sure about the facility. The surface is natural grass. Pictures on APU's website show seating, but it's potentially temporary. With a 6 p.m. (PT) kickoff, it's safe to assume there are lights at the facility as well. Teams have used the facility since 2002. Parking is available in Lot I (assuming that's adjacent). Also, according to the pre-championship conference call, the dimensions of the field are 116x74.  The physical address of the field is 601 E. Foothill Blvd., Azusa, Calif. And that's all we have to say about that – literally.
 
SERIES HISTORY
Thursday marks the second-ever meeting between Mines and Texas A&M-International and first-ever in the postseason. The inaugural meeting between the Orediggers and Dustdevils took place on Sept. 9, 2012 in Golden, Colo. Mines won the affair by a score of 4-1. Notably, Greg Mulholland, the Orediggers' current head coach, was on staff as an assistant at the time of that meeting. Furthermore, TAMIU's skipper Claudio Arias was also leading the Dustdevils when the teams first met. The 2012 campaign ended with Mines going 14-5-2 and winning the RMAC Tournament title while advancing to the NCAA Tournament. On the other side, TAMIU finished its 2012 season with a record of 10-4-4 but failed to make any form of postseason play. If Mines and Azusa Pacific face off on Saturday, it will be the first meeting between the two programs in the history of the world.
 
BRACKET BREAKDOWN [FULL BRACKET]
Even the most loyal NCAA Division II soccer fans may be confused by this year's new-look postseason. For the first time, men's soccer is playing its NCAA Tournament in a Super Region Format. Mines is part of Super Region 4, which received 10 bids to the big dance including five automatic qualifiers and five at-large berths. In the new format, the top four seeds host the first two rounds with seeds 1-6 receiving a first-round bye. That means the 3-6 and 4-5 matchups only play one game prior to the Sweet 16. After the first two rounds, the highest remaining seed hosts the Sweet 16 and Elite Eight rounds. The seeding in 2019, in order from 1-10, featured Azusa Pacific, Cal State LA, St. Mary's (Texas), Cal Poly Pomona, Cal State San Bernardino, Western Washington, UC San Diego, Mines, Texas A&M-International and Midwestern State. At this point, we've probably done all we can with words. The author recommends clicking the link above for a more visual understanding.
 
IN THE POSTSEASON
Sunday marks the sixth time Mines and Regis will face off in the postseason, including the NCAA Tournament. The Orediggers and Rangers first met in the RMAC Tournament final in 1996. Mines was the #2 seed and defeated RU by a score of 3-2 to claim its first RMAC Tournament title. The Orediggers lost to the Rangers, 1-0, in the 2001 semifinal before winning two straight in 2012 and 2014. Mines and Regis also faced off in the NCAA Tournament on Nov. 11, 2010 in Golden. The home team won that match by a score of 5-1. Overall, the Orediggers are 4-1 against the Rangers in the post season and 2-0 in RMAC Tournament Championship matches. Mines has outscored Regis by a margin of 14-6 in postseason matches and shutout the Rangers twice. As previously referenced, Mines and RU last met in the 2014 semifinal where the Orediggers came away with a 4-0 victory and an eventual tournament title.
 
BY THE NUMBERS
Mines is in the midst of it 21st RMAC Tournament appearance and 20th consecutive trip to the conference postseason. As of last Sunday, the Orediggers have played 33 matches in the league tournament for an overall record of 17-10-6. The 2019 tourney marks Mines' eighth #1 seed in program history. As the top seed, the Orediggers have won five of their eight crowns, going 10-2-2. To date, Mines has outscored its opponents 75-54 in RMAC Tournament play and gone to penalty kicks six times to decide which team advances. In tournament finals, the Orediggers are 6-3-2 and 2-0 in shootout situations. Mines' boasts 18 goals for and 16 goals against in the championship match. The last time the Orediggers lost in the conference tournament final was 2007 in a 3-0 defeat against Fort Lewis.
 
RECORD-SETTING SEASON
Sunday's semifinal win over Dixie State toppled two records in the program record book. It was Mines' 13th shutout of the season as a team and Drew Johnson's 11th shutout of the year as an individual. Both those numbers now rank #1 in program history. Johnson owned the previous mark of 10 shutouts in a single season after accomplishing the feat in 2018. He also touts 21 shutouts in his career which ranks #2 in program history. As a team, the Orediggers' previous shutouts record was 12 set in 2010. Since 2015, Mines has racked up 52 shutouts in just over 100 games. Earlier this season, Lucas King tied the single-match assists record by notching three at Colorado Christian.
 
NCAA TOURNAMENT HISTORY
As previously mentioned, Thursday marks Mines' ninth appearance in the NCAA Tournament. It is also the Orediggers third straight trip to the tourney and fourth in the last five years. Mines is 3-8-2 in the NCAA Postseason with four trips to the Sweet 16 and one run to the Elite Eight. The Orediggers have won both of their shootouts, advancing 4-2 over Incarnate Word in 2005 and 6-5 last season over St. Edward's in Austin, Texas. In its last three appearances, Mines boasts a record of 2-3-1 with three overtime thrillers and eight total goals. The Orediggers have posted one shutout of their own while being shut out six times in 13 total NCAA Tournament matches. Unfortunately, but also notable, Mines has not scored a goal in the NCAA Tournament since Nov. 22, 2015. It was a goal from John Haist. The 2018 alum scored in the 80th minute in a 3-2 loss to Cal Poly Pomona in Wichita Falls, Texas.
 
DEPARTMENT DOMINANCE
This little tidbit comes courtesy of Jeff Evans, the Athletics Communications Director at Western Washington. There are 213 NCAA Division II schools that sponsor both men's and women's soccer. Of those 213 institutions, only 12 had both their men and women advance to the NCAA Division II Championships. Mines is one of those schools thanks to the Oredigger women earning the #3 seed in the South Central Region. The women also play on Thursday at 1 p.m. (CT) against St. Edward's University in Dallas, Texas. However, men's and women's soccer are not the only successful programs at Mines. In the fall of 2019, Oredigger athletics boasts an overall record of 63-11-5 in head-to-head play and a RMAC mark of 44-7-4. That success includes five conference titles and one NCAA Regional title thanks to men's cross country. Five of Mines' six fall sports have qualified for the NCAA postseason and volleyball sits in line for a NCAA berth of its own. So that's pretty neat.
 
D2CCA ALL-REGION
On Wednesday, the Division II Conference Commissioners Association (D2CCA) announced its 2019 All-South Central Region teams and Mines led the entire region with five honorees. Jason Zobott and Ben Overholt earned first-team distinction. Drew Johnson, Ford Edwards and Lucas King made the second team. The duo of Zobott and Overholt now advance to the D2CCA All-America ballot. The D2CCA All-South Central Region Teams were nominated and voted on by the region's Sports Information Directors.
 
WHAT'S NEXT
It's been thoroughly covered but, in case you've reached this point and forgotten, a Mines victory puts them into Saturday's match against top-seeded and top-ranked Azusa Pacific at 6 p.m. (PT). If the Orediggers lose, their season is over. Live stats and video of all matches will be available free at www.minesathletics.com.
 
Fans can keep up with Colorado School of Mines Athletics all year long on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram using the handle @MinesAthletics. Men's soccer is also on Twitter under the handle @MinesMSOC.