GOLDEN, Colo. – Looking to rebound following a hard-fought loss Friday night, the Colorado School of Mines men's soccer team took the pitch at Stermole Stadium against a Top-25 opponent for the second time this weekend, lining up opposite #17 UCCS. The Orediggers (10-2-4, 5-1-2) scored an early goal in the first seven minutes of the action and made it stick, holding off the Mountain Lions (10-4-2, 7-1-0) in a physical match that saw six combined cautions issued in a 1-0 victory.
 
UCCS came out the aggressors in the opening moments of the match, putting three shots up in the first seven minutes of play and testing the Mines defense and netminder Brian Doherty early. Just 20 seconds after the Seattle product's first save of the afternoon, Tristan Semelsberger intercepted a bad pass from goalie Declan Domyan on the far side of the field before proceeding to beat a trio of UCCS defenders on before sending a left-footed strike to past the reach of a diving Domyan to find the lower left corner to give Mines the first goal of the afternoon.
 
Now trailing just seven minutes into the action, the Mountain Lions kept up their offensive pressure, continuing to put shots up as in the 18th minute, Doherty again made the save, this time on a shot from Marvin Putu to keep the one-goal advantage.
 
The shots kept coming against the Mines defense as the half continued, with two more shots on goal on the 25th and 26th minutes both being saved by Doherty as he held firm and kept it a 1-0 contest. Towards the end of the period, the physical play between the two teams finally saw the first two cautions issued, both of which were assessed to Mines. Michael Sprauer logged a pair of shots in the closing minutes, but both missed their mark while Doherty recorded his fifth save of the period with less than two minutes remaining as the teams went to halftime with UCCS leading on the shot chart 11-4.
 
The Mountain Lions tallied the first shot of the second half just 57 seconds in, but it was the Orediggers who put the first shot on goal, as Lucas King's salvo was saved by Domyan to remain 1-0. As the action marched on the second half, the physical play continued to escalate as tempers on both sides flared at times. Four more cautions were issued between the two teams in the final 30 minutes of play as UCCS continued to try and find a way onto the scoreboard with an equalizer, while Doherty continued to have a career afternoon in goal, making spectacular stops against tough shots to keep the Orediggers ahead.
 
Semelsberger had ambitions of putting the game out of reach on the 87th minute, as he managed to get behind the entire UCCS defense and went one-on-one with Domyan, who was able to make a diving save to deflect the shot off left to deny Semelsberger his second of the day. Chris Seery looked to find the scoreboard in the 89th minute, has he too found room behind the defense and lobbed a pair of shots in succession, the first of which Domyan was able to deflect before the second was kicked clear by a member of the defense.
 
With time ticking down in the final seconds, one last free kick from about 40 yards out for UCCS into the box was plucked from the air by Doherty, who proceeded to clear the ball downfield one final time as time expired for a 1-0 Mines win.
 
Combined with a CSU Pueblo loss to Colorado Christian by a score of 2-0 Sunday, Mines finishes the weekend in the RMAC standings right where they started it, leading the way with 21 points ahead of the ThunderWolves and UCCS by two and four points respectively.
 
NOTABLES
-Semelsberger now has 10 goals on the season, becoming the first player since John Haist in 2018 to reach double-figure goals in a season
-Doherty recorded a season- and career-high eight saves in goal as he recorded his sixth shutout of 2022
-Mines finished with 10 shots in the match, with four different players recording two shots each
-The Orediggers' win gives them 10 on the season, marking the fifth time under head coach Greg Mulholland they've hit double figures in the win column, the spring 2021 season notwithstanding
-Mines has now won the last nine meetings with UCCS, and Sunday's win was the fifth shutout in that span
 
UP NEXT
Just two matches remain in the regular season for Mines as they'll split those matches at home and on the road, first heading to Colorado Mesa Friday October 21 for a 7 p.m. match before hosting Westminster in the second meeting of the season between the two teams on Sunday October 23 at 11 a.m., before which the eight seniors on this year's Orediggers club will be honored in a pre-match ceremony.
 
Fans can keep up with Mines men's soccer on Twitter at @MinesMSOC. They can also keep up with Colorado School of Mines Athletics all year long on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram using the handle @MinesAthletics.