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Preview Graphic vs Mines

PREVIEW | Women's Soccer Ready for Colorado School of Mines in RMAC Semifinal

11/13/2024 9:00:00 AM

By: Jake Ross, Assistant Sports Information Director
THIS WEEKEND'S MATCH UP
  • The University of Colorado Colorado Springs women's soccer team tries to prolong their run in the postseason while also improving their season long win streak to six straight.
  • The Colorado School of Mines welcomes UCCS, Fort Lewis and MSU Denver to their home pitch for the final four as Mines holds the top seed in the tournament and #1 ranking in Division II behind their unbeaten 17-0-1 regular season record. 
GAME COVERAGE TICKETS
  • Ticket prices are set at $15 for adults, $10 for Kids ages 6-17, Seniors over the age of 65 and Military members. Tickets can be purchased online here, it is strongly encouraged that tickets are purchased online before arriving to Stermole Stadium.
ROCKY MOUNTAIN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE NETWORK
  • Fans unable to attend in-person will be able to watch the match on the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Network. There is a direct link to the broadcast here, and can also be accessed by clicking the watch button on the women's soccer schedule page. The broadcast will be available by pay per view.
2024 REGULAR SEASON IN REVIEW
  • The Mountain Lions had a slow start to the year going 2-2-2 in conference play, but the struggles really began as the team embarked on the RMAC schedule going 0-4 to begin the conference season.
  • The tides would finally turn for the Mountain Lions, as they picked up an impressive 1-0 road victory at Fort Lewis in Durango, Colorado. A victory that would launch UCCS on a three-game winning streak, picking up wins at home against Black Hills State and Regis at home the following weekend.
  • A loss on the road at #22 Colorado Mesa ended the ride for the Mountain Lions, but they jumped right back on the horse the same weekend getting a 2-1 win at Westminster before returning to Colorado to win their last three matches vs New Mexico Highlands (6-0), at Adams State (2-0), and vs CSU Pueblo (5-1).
RMAC BRACKET
  • The RMAC Tournament Field consists of eight total teams with the number one seed receiving a bye to the semi-final round. Seeds two through six begin play in the quarterfinal section of the bracket, with teams seeded seventh and eighth facing off against one another in an opening play-in round two days prior to the quarterfinal matches with the winner advancing to play the second seed.
  • Ahead of UCCS in the bracket is #1 nationally ranked Colorado School of Mines who completed an unbeaten regular season going 11-0-1 in conference play and 17-0-1 overall to earn the top seed and an automatic spot in the RMAC Semifinal. The second seed was claimed by #22 nationally ranked Colorado Mesa who finished 11-1 in conference play, losing only to Colorado School of Mines. The final team ahead of UCCS is MSU Denver who is receiving votes nationally and carries an 8-2-2 conference into the tournament.
  • UCCS' quarterfinal opponent Colorado Christian earned the fifth seed behind a 5-4-3 conference record, followed by sixth seeded Westminster who also ended the year with a 5-4-3 record but lost the tiebreaker of goal differential to CCU.
  • The final two seeds were claimed by Fort Lewis, who too finished 5-4-3, but lost tiebreakers to both CCU and Westminster due to losing the head-to-head matchup with the Cougars and having a worse goal differential than the Griffins. FLC faced off with eighth seeded Regis who wrapped up conference play with a 5-5-2 record, with the Skyhawks and Rangers met on Friday for the play-in match where the Skyhawks prevailed 3-0.
  • The Quarterfinals featured three hard fought matches with UCCS and MSU Denver both advancing behind 2-1 results over CCU and Westminster, respectively. Fort Lewis provided the upset of the quarterfinal round, going into Grand Junction and eliminating Colorado Mesa 8-7 on penalties after 110 minutes of scoreless play.
RMAC LEADERS
  • The Mountain Lions scored the second most goals as a team in the regular season with 34, they trailed just Colorado School of Mines who netted an impressive 52 tallies. The scoring effort was a cooperative one, with eleven different attackers netting goals for UCCS in the regular season. UCCS was led by Emily Aguilar in scoring with her seven goals, a mark which was fourth most in the league. Taylynn Levi checked in second on the Mountain Lions, and tied for sixth in the RMAC with six goals, a career high for the sophomore midfielder as Fie Steenberg also ranked among the best in the league as she tied for 12th most with 5 goals.
  • Fie Steenberg put her stamp on 2024 offensively, appearing in the top 15 of every major scoring category in the conference. The Danish senior was tied 12th in goals with 5, tied 8th in assists with 4, tied 8th in game winning goals with 2, and tied 7th in points with 14.
  • In her first season in between the sticks for UCCS, freshman Alexa Malaspina has been solid for the Mountain Lions, securing six clean sheets on the year for the black and gold. Her six shutouts ranked fifth among the RMAC's 13 starting keepers.
  • This Week, the Mountain Lions earned an abundance of RMAC honors, as both Taylynn Levi and Fie Steenberg were named to the RMAC All-Academic First Team. Both earned the highlight for the first time in their respective careers as Levi holds a perfect 4.0 GPA in her Engineering studies, with Fie Steenberg holding a stellar 3.87 GPA in her studies of International Business.
  • The Mountain Lions also landed Freshman of the Year in Malia Groshong, who has been a stalwart in the back line for UCCS this fall. Emily Aguilar moved up to All-RMAC First Team after her Second Team selection in 2023, with Steenberg, Levi and Luka Johnson all earning Second Team nods.
ALL-TIME SERIES
  • UCCS and CSM have met 28 times in the program's histories, with the Orediggers holding a dominant 18-8-2 record over the Mountain Lions. However, since 2020, the Mountain Lions and Orediggers are a dead even 3-3-1 against one another, with UCCS holding the 2-1-0 advantage in playoff matches during that stretch.
  • Results from those last three playoff meetings were, a 1-0 UCCS win in the 2021 RMAC Semifinal, a 2-0 UCCS win in the 2021 NCAA Tournament Second Round, and a 2-1 Mines win in the 2022 NCAA Second Round.
SCOUTING THE OREDIGGERS
  • Colorado School of Mines enters the postseason as the top team in the RMAC and Division II women's soccer with a 17-0-1 regular season record. Their only draw was a puzzling result in a 1-1 draw against Black Hills State in Spearfish, S.D. who finished with just a 3-11-4 record, going 3-8-1 in conference.
  • Since the draw to the Yellow Jackets, the Orediggers have won nine straight and scored at least two goals in all nine of those wins.
  • The Orediggers are led by RMAC Co-Players of the Year, Resse McDermott and Bella Campos who combined for 27 goals during the regular season. Pair that with both having five assists, and you account for a staggering 64 points of offense, by far the most of any duo in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference.
  • In goal stands junior Allie Lundgren, who has played in 16 matches for the Orediggers this season allowing just five goals in those 16 matches. Making 38 saves along the way, Lundgren has an impressive 0.33 goals against average, with eight shutouts in her 15-0-1 regular season record.
UCCS UNDER HEAD COACH J. B. BELZER
  • Head coach J.B. Belzer is in his fifth season as the UCCS skipper, holding a 66-20-9 record in his time in the Springs. Belzer is in his 29th season in the RMAC after spending 24 years at Regis University in Denver. Overall Belzer owns an impressive 382-167-46 record on his career between Regis and UCCS, owning the fifth most wins out of active Division II coaches. He has the 13th most wins in the history of Division II women's soccer.
  • During his time at UCCS Belzer has guided the Mountain Lions to a regular season title in three out of his five seasons, with one RMAC tournament championship in 2021.
  • The Mountain Lions have qualified for the NCAA national championship tournament in every season Belzer has coached at UCCS, with the lone exception being in 2020 when the championship tournament was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The 2023 season was the most successful NCAA tournament run for the Mountain Lions under Belzer, who made it into the final eight teams before falling to Point Loma Nazarene 1-0 who would go on to win the National Championship.
WEATHER
  • The forecast for Thursday afternoon on campus at Colorado School of Mines is mostly clear with a daytime high near 59 degrees. A light westerly breeze is expected to be between 5 and 8 miles per hour, but gusts could reach up to 17 miles per hour throughout the day in Golden.
UP NEXT
  • The winner of the RMAC Semifinal match will advance to take on the winner of the (3) MSU Denver Roadrunners vs the (7) Fort Lewis College Skyhawks in the RMAC Tournament Final at 6 p.m. on Saturday in Golden, Colorado for a spot NCAA Division II Women's Soccer Championships next weekend.
 
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For everything UCCS Athletics, follow the Mountain Lions on social media and stay tuned to gomountainlions.com.
 
As a member of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, the University of Colorado Colorado Springs competes in 14 varsity sports in NCAA Division II intercollegiate athletics.

 
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