Mines halts women's win streak

Arvada, Colo. -- An 88th minute goal by the Colorado School of Mines broke both a 1-1 deadlock with CSU-Pueblo and the hearts of the ThunderWolves’ women’s soccer team on Sunday.  Mines starlet Kayla Mitchell broke through the Pack’s defense just two minutes from time to put the finishing touches on a 2-1 loss for the ThunderWolves.

The Orediggers scored in just the 6th minute of the game by playing the ball over the heads of the CSU-Pueblo defense before maneuvering in for the score.  The ThunderWolves fought back with purpose, however, and were able to draw level in the 75th minute.

In that sequence, Sarah Deffit (So., Bremerton, Wash.) played the ball to Sydney Hase (Fr., Woodbury, Minn.) who continued her transformation from center back to striker by scoring her third goal of the season.  The two teams then looked destined for extra time before Mitchell popped in the winner in the dying moments of the game.

Despite the loss, Coach Dave Morris was fairly upbeat about his team’s performance.  “The team is disappointed not to have won this game,” he said.  “But we got terrific effort today.  I think we played really well.”

The coach felt like his team did a lot of things well, and he was proud of the way they came back from being a goal down.  “We were able to play at different tempos, and we were able to get forward in numbers,” he said, listing off many of the things his team did right over the course of the game.

He also had praise for several players he felt made an impact on the game.  “Marli Martin (Sr., West Jordan, Utah) caused havoc, and Becca Drennan (Jr., Fountain, Colo.) just keeps getting better every game.  Kylie Draper (So., River Falls, Wisc.), Kara Morton (So., Thornton, Colo.), and Felicia Gilbreath (Jr., Colorado Springs, Colo.) really looked solid, too,” he said.

Morris also said that although he’s not into “moral victories” or “style points,” he feels like his team represented itself well.  “We showed we’re in the top echelon of the conference,” he said.  “We’re certainly in the conversation, and that’s good.”

The team will now focus their energies on their next opponent, Metro State.  “We have got to get after Metro and get some points,” said Morris.

The game will be played this Friday at 4 p.m. at the Rawlings Complex.