No. 2 Mines Suffers First Loss, Ends Season With 3-1 Second Round Upset

GOLDEN – NSCAA No. 2 Colorado School of Mines women's soccer was dealt its first loss of the season Sunday afternoon as the top-seed Orediggers were upset 3-1 by fifth-seed Metro State in the NCAA Division II Championships second round at CSM Soccer Stadium.

Playing against a 20-30 MPH headwind for much of the first half, Mines (19-1-1) struggled to advance the ball past midfield and went into halftime down 2-0 after surrendering scores to Maggie Rojas in the 22nd minute and Nicole Pollack in the 40th.

Despite the wind in their favor in the second, the Orediggers fell behind 3-0 at 59:43 on an own goal by way of an errant header at the right side of the penalty box following a right wing cross by Metro State (14-4-3).

The women pulled back within two 5:07 later as freshman Jaclyn Knott took a short Roadrunner goal kick to the right elbow of the goal box and lined a 17-yard look to the low, left net for her seventh score, tops among Oredigger underclassmen.

Mines desperately tried to sustain the rally with five shots and three corner attempts in the final 25 minutes, but would draw no closer as Metro State goalkeeper Karisa Fernandez recorded three of her game-high six saves in the span.

The Orediggers outshot the Roadrunners 13-10 and had seven shots on goal with senior Bree Archuleta, senior Anna Evans and junior Kendra Bulawa each recording two.

The three goals allowed were the most since a 4-1 loss to Fort Lewis at New Mexico Highlands on Oct. 16, 2011.

The loss was the first in four NCAA appearances for Mines and first in 34 matches dating back to a 1-0 setback at Metro State on Sept. 30 of last season, the fifth-longest unbeaten streak in Division II chronicles.

It also brought to a close the collegiate careers of Evans, Archuleta, Jordan Hopper and Kelsey Neal, the program's winningest senior class at 65-13-11 (.792) and first in conference history to win three consecutive RMAC Tournament championships.

SOUTH CENTRAL REGIONAL HEADQUARTERS