Late Rally Eliminates Orediggers In RMAC Semifinals, 2-1

DENVER – Leading 1-0 with under 5:00 remaining, Colorado School of Mines men's soccer succumbed to two goals in the waning minutes against No. 3 seed Colorado Mesa, losing 2-1 in Friday's semifinals of the RMAC Tournament in Denver.

Colorado Mesa (11-5-4) will meet the winner between regular season champion and NSCAA No. 23 Regis and fifth-seed Fort Lewis at 1 p.m. Sunday in the championship match.  

Marco Escobar scored the equalizer with 4:45 left and Tim Hofer put away the go-ahead header 3:12 later at 88:27. Ethan Johnson and Michael Bagheri earned the assists, both directing a service into the box from near midfield.

Following a controlling first 45:00 in favor of Mines, senior Tesho Akindele ended the 0-0 score at 58:51, heading in his conference-leading 19th marker via a feed from junior Tannor Randle.

The two-time RMAC Player of the Year and active all-division NCAA career leader in goals and points (183), Akindele climbed into a tie for 11th in the Division II record book in goals (76) and 13th in points (185) with the score.

Mines outshot the Mavericks 12-5 and 3-2 in shots on goal for the afternoon after opening with advantages of 6-1 in shots and 5-1 in corner attempts over the first 25 minutes.

Akindele and classmate Giuseppe Pasqualino combined for the three on-goal looks. The assist was Randle's third of the season, tied for third-most on the team.

The Orediggers (11-6-1) will learn their fate for next weekend's regionals during the NCAA Division II Men's Soccer selection show at 5:30 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 11 on www.ncaa.com. The top three teams from the South Central region earn an at-large berth in the 35-team championship field.

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