Men’s Soccer defeats UCCS 4-0

The Colorado School of Mines (CSM) men’s soccer team resoundingly defeated the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs (UCCS) Mountain Lions 4-0 October 15.
The game began in exciting fashion, when CSM freshman forward Baski Baker scored in the fifth minute. He was assisted by fellow freshman forward Tesho Akindele, in a play which was more effective than beautiful. This was Baker’s eighth goal of the 2010 season.

Shortly after his assist, Tesho Akindele scored his tenth goal of the season in the ninth minute, assisted by junior midfielder Chike Sullivan. Following a corner kick, Sullivan maneuvered through defenders and fed a pass to Akindele, who slipped the ball into the net.

After this second goal, UCCS threatened to score several times. Senior Jaron Stewart, junior Matt Friezen, and freshman Kyle Lee all saw clear scoring chances the tenth and the fourteenth minutes. Stewart and Lee’s shots were blocked, and CSM goalkeeper sophomore Manville Strand made a diving save to prevent Friezen from scoring and preserve the shutout.

The Orediggers nearly added to their lead in the sixteenth minute, but an offsides call negated the opportunity and opened the door for two more Mountain Lion chances, neither of which found the back of the net.

Tesho Akindele continued his scoring tear by tallying another goal in the twenty-fourth minute. Later, in the thirty-first minute, Akindele scored again, this time assisted by sophomore forward Alex Gunberg. This was Akindele’s twelfth goal for the season and third for the day, giving him his second hat trick in two games.

The second period was far less important, as there were no more goals scored. It began a little rougher than the first, as both CSM and UCCS witnessed players receiving yellow cards within the first minute of the half. Tempers seemed to settle down a bit around the fiftieth minute, but there were still more fouls in the second period than the first.

The Men’s soccer team, currently ranked number one in the nation overall, is beginning to garner respect. One spectator, Stu Bennett, a CSM alumnus (Class of 1966) and former Orediggers soccer and football player, commented on the team, “Well, they’re really skilled, and they seem to be playing the game exactly as they want it… It seems like when they get [the ball] in the offensive end, they just play it off at will.” Another, CSM LAIS professor Juan Lucena, commented, “What’s striking is the Mines team is very disciplined. The attack is always very organized. They have certain plays that you can see they have practiced quite a bit and perform nicely.”