This Week's Matchup
UCCS Women's Soccer will host the first and second round of the NCAA South Central Regional Tournament with No. 3 seed Colorado School of Mines and No. 6 seed Midwestern State University facing off in the first round on Friday, Nov. 17 at 1 p.m., followed by the winner advancing to Sunday, Nov. 21's second round match to take on No. 2 seed UCCS at 1 p.m. inside Mountain Lion Stadium.
 
Game Coverage
Live Stream: (3) Colorado School of Mines vs. (6) Midwestern State - https://www.rmacnetwork.com/gomountainlions/
Live Stream: (2) UCCS vs. (3) CSM or (6) MSU - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vxuTJONS5P0
Live Stats - https://gomountainlions.com/sidearmstats/wsoc/summary
 
Last Time Out

• The Mountain Lions won their second ever RMAC Tournament Championship last week after defeating Regis University at a final score of 3-1. True freshman Jadyn LeDoux came out to score a season high five points after netting two goals, including the game-winner, and tallying an assist as the Mountain Lions held Regis to five shots and two shots on goal for the match.

NCAA South Central Regional Tournament

• On the opposite side of the bracket, No. 1 seed Dallas Baptist University is hosting both No. 4 seed Angelo State University and No. 5 seed Westminster College. Angelo State and Westminster will kick-off at 12 p.m. (MT) on Friday with the winner advancing to the second round to play DBU on Sunday for a 12 p.m. match.
• The highest remaining seed after the second round will host the regional championship match.

The Series

• UCCS and Mines could matchup for the third time this season after the Mountain Lions took the most recent match with a final score of 1-0 in the RMAC Semifinal match. The Orediggers won the first matchup during the regular season after taking a 2-1 result in Golden, Colo.
• Mines is leading in the all-time series with a 6-16-1 record but UCCS holds a 1-0 all-time record against the Orediggers in the NCAA Tournament.
• The Mountain Lions and MSU have a short history with two all-time matchups as the Mustangs hold a 2-0 record against UCCS. The most recent matchup came in 2015 when the Mustangs shut out the Mountain Lions in Colorado Springs, 1-0.

Scouting Mines

• Colorado School of Mines (12-4-4, 9-2-1 RMAC) are 0-2-1 in their last three games with the two of those losses coming by way of shutout. Orediggers' last win came on Halloween with a 3-0 win over Colorado State University Pueblo.
• Mines lost their regular season finale with a 1-0 overtime loss to Regis then followed that up with a no result against Westminster in the conference Quarterfinal and the loss to UCCS in the semifinals.
• The Orediggers still hold the best defense in the RMAC and region with a 0.573 GAA. CSM also holds the sixth highest save percentage at .886 and second best shutout percentage in the region at .550. RMAC Goalkeeper of the Year Sierra Roth is a main contributor to that with a region leading .586 GAA and .880 save percentage.
• RMAC Freshman of the Year Reese McDermott leads the team in goals (eight) and points (18) with Emma Peterson (12) and Emi Higgins (10) also posting double digit points for the Orediggers.
• Defender Jordan Barnhart anchors the Orediggers backline and has started in all 20 matches for Mines while turning in a team high 1, 879 minutes.

Scouting Midwestern State

• The MSU Mustangs (12-4-3, 9-1-3 LSC) rode into the Lone Star Conference Tournament on a five-game win streak that included an overtime win over 2021 LSC Tournament Champs Angelo State, but the Mustangs fell in the first round by Texas A&M University-Commerce, 3-2.
• MSU is currently outscoring their opponent 34-20 and average 1.74 goals per game while the Mustangs are giving up 1.05 goals per game.
• With a save percentage of .839, MSU ranks third in the region as goalkeepers Taylor Camp and Lauren Freeman have each contributed with save percentages of .835 and .829, respectively. Both Camp and Freeman have registered six wins in frame with Camp making the most starts (12) and claiming the most shutouts (five) at a 6-4-3 record. Freeman on the other hand lays claim to a perfect 6-0 record and the lowest GAA (.90) with seven starts and 10 games played.
• Offensively, the Mustangs are led by three double-digit point scorer's with midfielder Kelly Cannistra pacing the team with eight goals and 17 points. Forward Cassidy Savoy is second on the team in points but first in assists with her stat line reading four assists and six goals for 16 points. Fellow midfielder Randi Heaton comes in at 12 points scored with five goals and two assists for the year.

Hot Takes

• The Mountain Lions host the first and second round of the national tournament for the third time in program history with all three instances coming in the past four years.
• Makayla Merlo and Jadyn LeDoux become the fifth and sixth freshmen in program history to net eight goals in a season.
• UCCS has not allowed a first half score for 11 straight matches.
• Graduate student Tarah Patterson has scored the programs third most points in a single season (28). She currently is sixth in the nation in assists per game (.71) and assists (12).
• Midfielder Ella Fischer has played in all seven of the program's NCAA Tournament games.
• UCCS is 3-1 against Lone Star Conference schools this season.
• The Mountain Lions currently average 1.57 goals per game in NCAA Tournament games and allow .90 goals per game.
• Head Coach J. B. Belzer holds a 9-19-1 career record against the Orediggers and a 4-2-1 record against Midwestern State.

Weather

• Friday's neutral site match calls for mostly cloudy early, then afternoon sunshine with a high of 63 degrees. Winds are forecasted to reach five to 10 miles-per-hour.
• On Sunday, the forecast is predicted for mainly sunny and a high of 52 degrees with winds five to 10 miles-per-hour.

UCCS Under Head Coach J. B. Belzer

• Head coach J. B. Belzer enters his second season at the helm for UCCS and 26^th total season as a Division II head coach after spending 24 seasons at Regis University.
• Belzer holds a 342-150-37 record for the seventh most wins in NCAA Division II Women's Soccer history.

Ticket Prices
NCAA Tournament Ticket Prices
TICKET PRICES (CASH ONLY)
Adults: $10
Students (with student ID) & Senior Citizens (age 65+): $5
Children (ages 2-12): $3
*First 200 UCCS Students with ID: Free (*Sunday's game ONLY)
 
Upcoming Games

• The winner of Sunday's match will advance to NCAA South Central Regional Championship with the highest remaining seed set to host on Friday, Dec. 3 or Sunday, Dec. 5.

 
SOCIAL
Twitter - @GoMountainLions
Instagram - @gomountainlions 
Facebook – Go Mountain Lions
 
As a member of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, the University of Colorado Colorado Springs competes in 16 varsity sports in NCAA Division II intercollegiate athletics.