RAPID CITY, S.D. – In what was a tightly contested match throughout, senior forward Nick Walker's 86^th-minute goal turned out to be the difference as the University of Colorado Colorado Springs men's soccer team earned hard-fought 1-0 road victory over South Dakota Mines on Thursday evening.
 
INSIDE THE MATCHUP
Final: UCCS 1, SDM 0
Records: UCCS (5-3-3, 3-0-0 RMAC), SDM (5-3-2, 0-3-0 RMAC)
Facility: SDM Dakota Fields | Rapid City, S.D.
All-Time Series: UCCS improves to 13-0 all-time against the Hardrockers.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• The opening minutes of Thursday evening's match featured a steady back-and-forth battle as both teams looked to establish possession. UCCS created the first real chance of the night in the 12th minute when Nick Walker found some space and placed a shot off his head that sailed just high over the crossbar.
• The Hardrockers countered with their first shot attempt of the match just a couple minutes later and found themselves with a golden opportunity in the 21^st minute when a UCCS foul set them up with a free kick from just outside the 18-yard box. Even Henriksen lined up to take the free kick for South Dakota Mines but wound up popping the ball far over the top of the goal to end the threat.
• With the match still scoreless, UCCS was positioned with a similar opportunity in the 37^th minute as the Hardrockers committed a foul just a couple of yards outside the penalty area to give the Mountain Lions a strong look at the net on a free kick. Gustavo Diaz Avila settled behind the ball for UCCS and tried for a low shot that was easily blocked away by the South Dakota Mines defensive wall.
• The match continued to hold in a scoreless tie for the remainder of the opening half with the Mountain Lions holding slight advantages in total shots (7-6) and shots on goal (3-1) at the intermission.
• The Mountain Lions had a defensive scare less than two minutes into the second half as the Hardrockers found a quick breakaway chance with the RMAC's leading goal-scorer Nickolas North streaking up the field and positioning himself in a one-on-one showdown with UCCS goalkeeper Hugo Sjöberg, but fortunately for UCCS, North's shot drifted too far left of the frame and the match remained scoreless.
• The Mountain Lions and Hardrockers continued to battle throughout the bulk of the second half with both teams getting multiple opportunities to break the stalemate, but it took until the 86^th minute for UCCS to finally snap the scoreless stretch and take a 1-0 lead. Sean Belzer started the scoring chance for the Mountain Lions as he drove the ball down the left wing and sent a cross into the box where Eduardo Macias managed to quickly redirect the ball to Walker, who unleashed a strong left-footed shot that sailed past SDM goalkeeper Daniel Freitas into the back of the nylon.  
• After gaining the advantage, the Mountain Lions went to work on the defensive end of the ball and held the Hardrockers without a shot attempt across the final minutes of the match to secure their third consecutive conference victory.

STATS FROM THE GAME

• The Mountain Lions and Hardrockers each recorded 11 shots in the game, but UCCS held a 5-2 advantage in shots on goal.
• Walker notched his fifth goal of the season and paced the team with four total shots, including a pair of shots on goal.
• Miles Seminario added two total shots in the game with both being on frame.
• Eduardo Macias saw 48 minutes of action on Thursday and recorded his second assist of the season.
• Dimitrios Leonoglou, Luke Noameshie, and Walker each logged full 90-minute showings on the pitch.
• Sjöberg played the full 90-minutes in frame for UCCS and recorded his second clean sheet of the campaign while making two saves.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE

• Sjöberg and the UCCS defense put forth an incredible effort on Thursday evening in shutting out a South Dakota Mines team that entered the day as the NCAA Division II national leaders in scoring with an average of 3.44 goals per game.
• With their victory, the Mountain Lions remained unbeaten in the all-time series against South Dakota Mines and have now recorded clean sheets in 10 of their 13 meeting with the Hardrockers.
• After scoring his fifth goal of the season tonight, Walker now sits tied for third in the RMAC in goals and fourth in conference in points (12).

UP NEXT

• The Mountain Lions will travel to Denver, Colo., on Sunday, Oct. 12 for a conference matchup against Regis University at 1 p.m.

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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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