The No. 3 seed Colorado Mesa Mavericks (11-5-4) defeated the No. 2 seed Colorado School of Mines (11-6-1) men’s soccer team in the semifinals of the RMAC Tournament Friday with two late goals to grab the 2-1 victory. It was a tough loss for the Orediggers who had the lead at 1-0 going into the eighty-sixth minute.
The first half of the game was controlled by the Orediggers, as they outshot the Mavericks 6-2 in the opening frame and 12-5 overall. Mines also held an advantage in corner kicks on the day at 9-8, but even though the Orediggers paced the first stanza, they went into the half still scoreless, 0-0.
In the second half, things became a little more exciting. In the fifty-ninth minute, No. 10 Tesho Akindele headed in the Tannor Randle (No. 5) pass to break the scoreless tie and give the Orediggers the one to nil advantage. With the minutes ticking down, it looked like Akindele’s league leading nineteenth goal of the season would prove to be the game winner, but in the eighty-sixth minute Mesa’s Marco Escobar (No. 5) scored the game tying goal and just over three minutes later, Tim Hofer gave the Mavericks the 2-1 lead with just a minute to play.
With the game seemingly in hand, the loss was a tough blow for the Orediggers who will learn their postseason fate on Monday November, 11 during the NCAA Division II selection show.
