GOLDEN, Colo. (Nov. 4, 2022) - The No. 9 Colorado State University Pueblo men's soccer suffered a heartbreaking loss after battling No. 14 Colorado School of Mines to a 3-3 tie after two overtime periods. The Orediggers clinched the win after coming away with a 9-8 victory on penalty kicks.

The ThunderWolves received scores from Aden O'Hara, Lamar Bynum and Gustavo Murtha.

In the match, CSU Pueblo totaled 19 shots including twelve coming in the second half.

In an exciting first half, the home team got on the board first after taking advantage of the high winds at their backs and scored during the fifth minute for an early 1-0 lead. 

The ThunderWolves wasted little time in responding with a goal of their own when O'Hara fired a shot from wide left of the net that sailed inside the left post for the equalizer. Gustavo Murtha was credited with an assist on the play.

Mines took a 2-1 lead when a corner kick found the foot of the Orediggers and with an assist from the heavy winds on the pitch, hit a strike that went beyond the reach of the Pack defense.

CSU Pueblo answered back with a goal less than two minutes later when Bynum headed in a corner kick taken by Kenshin Uneo and bring the game to 2-2.

The Orediggers scored with 2:36 remaining in the first half and carried a 3-2 lead into the break.

Through the first half, CSU Pueblo recorded four shots and earned two corner kicks. Mines totaled eight shots and three corners in the first forty-five minutes.

In the second period and with the high winds at the back of the ThunderWolves, the Pack got their first good look at the net just over ten minutes into the half on a shot by Reggie Nicolas that hit the crossbar and stayed out of the net.

Uneo fired his first shot on goal in the 59' and on the counter attack, Mines found possession and a big save from Roth prevented the Orediggers from scoring.

CSU Pueblo's offense remained active as they earned two corners that was defended well by the Orediggers.

With about 27 minutes left in regulation, Gabriel Campora created a chance at the net that was blocked.

The Orediggers continued to apply the pressure even battling into the winds and earned their first corner during the 71st minute that resulted in a shot that went wide of the net.

With 11:14 showing on the clock, Uneo fed in a corner kick in to Shjon Andrews who hit a header shot that hit the crossbar and resulted in another corner kick.

On this attempt, Uneo served in a ball that found Gustavo Murtha who hit the tying goal.

Mines drove the ball with just over ten minutes left in the match and Roth made another acrobatic save that became loose and the defense stepped in and held the Orediggers out of the net.

During the final five minutes, the Orediggers put out a strong offensive attack in which the defense continued to have one of their best outings of the year to keep them at bay.

Through regulation, CSU Pueblo totaled 16 shots against 17 from Mines and the ThunderWolves offense created ten corners, eight of them coming in the second half.

Starting the first overtime, CSU Pueblo had the first shot of extra time recorded on a high shot from Campora.

The teams continued to battle and with 4:20 left in the overtime period, Nicolas found the crease and fired another shot that was saved out of bounds by the Mines goalkeeper, resulting in another corner for the ThunderWolves.

The score went unchanged as the game went into a double-overtime with the Orediggers getting their best chance at the net with less than 15 seconds to play.

In the second overtime of the match, Nicolas found the first try at the with 9:14 left and on the counter, Mines took the ball and on a throw-in was held out of the box.

The Orediggers got their first good look with a header shot that went wide of the net for the goal kick for CSU Pueblo.

A free kick for Mines with 4:20 to play got the home team another good look that went to no avail.

With just over ninety seconds left on the clock, the Pack had to play one man down after a second yellow card which was converted to a red card was issued.

The ThunderWolves held off a last second shot attempt and took the game into a penalty kick shootout.

In the shootout, CSU Pueblo

The Pack started first and Campora stepped up first and converted his shot attempt.

Mines scored on their first attempt.

Mario Sandoval came on second for the ThunderWolves and struck the right side of the net for the score.

In their next try, Mines evened the shootout with another shot inside the left post.

Caio Oliveira came on third for CSU Pueblo and scored a low shot inside the right post.

The home team again tied it with a goal of their own, setting up Nicolas to come on fourth and despite his shot being tipped by the goalkeeper, the shot was hard enough to go into the net.

CSM converted their next attempt and Bynum stepped up next and hit the left side high inside the net for the Pack.

On their next try, Mines scored and took the game to a sixth PK try.

For the ThunderWolves Ricardo Schroeder Jr. came on for his try and his shot went high above the crossbar.

Colorado School of Mines came for their sixth try and Pack goalkeeper Will Whitworth made a huge save to keep the game going.

Noe Pena hit the seventh shot attempt and put the pressure on the Orediggers who scored and evened the score.

Uneo stepped up next for the Pack and struck the ball low and inside the right post for the score.

On Mines next try, the ball went inside the right side for the goal.

In the next attempt, Rayk Riechmann attempted his shot and hit the ball high and out of the reach of the keeper.

Bingoel came on for the next attempt and his shot hit the crossbar and stayed out of the net.

For the Orediggers, they hit and scored on their next attempt to come away with the victory on penalties.

CSU Pueblo now awaits where they end up when the NCAA Men's Soccer Selection Show airs on Monday at 4:30 p.m.

Stay tuned to www.gothunderwolves.com for the latest schedule updates.

All-RMAC Tournament Team
MVP - Quin Collins (Mines)
Tristan Semelsberger (Mines)
Lamar Bynum (CSU Pueblo)
Michael Sprauer (Mines)
Kenshin Uneo (CSU Pueblo)
Nils Roth (CSU Pueblo)
Kenneth Symmes (Mines)
Gabriel Campora (CSU Pueblo)
Azad Illiozer (Mines)
Luke Merrill (Westminster)
Alex Andersson (UCCS)