Mines holds on for victory over Colorado Mesa

After the women opened up their season with a win, the pressure was on the men to keep pace. The No. 17 Colorado School of Mines men’s soccer team squared off against Colorado Mesa in their conference opener and rode an outstanding defensive effort to the 1-0 victory.

Outshooting the Mavericks 15-5 for the game and 12-3 in the first half, Mines controlled possession for much of the game. In the first half, the Oredigger offense threatened to score for much of the first half before senior Tesho Akindele knocked in a reverse header with 53 seconds remaining. Junior Jared Herselman was credited with the assist as he sent the ball into the box with a perfect free kick that allowed Akindele to get his head on the ball for his fourth goal in four games this year. The free kick was set up by a CMU yellow card, one of six bookings on the day, three for each team. There were 32 total fouls in this physical contest with Mines totaling 17 and Mesa totaling 15.

With the one to nil cushion, the Orediggers were content to let their defense smother the opponent in the second half. Holding the Mavericks to two shots in the half, Mines held on to their one goal advantage to win their conference opener 1-0. Goalie Colin Baker needed only two saves, out of five shots, to secure the shutout victory. Two of the three yellow cards for Mines came in the second half, and during a three minute period just before halftime, there were three total yellow cards, including the one that led to the goal scoring free kick.

Mines, now 3-0-1 and 1-0 in the RMAC have never lost in their thirteen matchups with CMU (2-3-0, 0-1-0 RMAC). The Orediggers square off against conference foe Colorado Christian this Friday at 5:00 pm. So come out and support your Orediggers for Homecoming week.