Men’s Soccer Claims Shootout, RMAC Tournament Crown
GRAND JUNCTION – Colorado School of Mines men's soccer overcame a furious two-goal comeback by Colorado Colorado Springs, prevailing 4-3 in a penalty kick shootout Sunday at Walker Field in Grand Junction for the program's third RMAC Tournament championship in five seasons.

Following the second of two stops by freshman keeper Josh Clark, senior Adrian Eccles provided the deciding goal in the fifth round of the shootout period as the second-seeded Orediggers (12-7-1) lifted the postseason hardware for the fifth time and first since 2012.  

The resilient Mountain Lions (11-8-2), who overcame a three-goal deficit in the quarterfinals Wednesday at Fort Lewis, forced overtime with two goals in the final 5:43 of regulation, scoring a set piece header at 83:07 and the equalizer 52 seconds later.

Mines went into the half with a two-nil margin via a pair of headers as junior RMAC Tournament MVP Ryan Leach recorded his third of the tourney in the 30th minute and classmate Joe Haines completed a free kick from senior Tannor Randle at 40:58.

UCCS pulled one back in the 58th minute on a corner attempt before freshman Nikolaus Grotz converted his fourth penalty shot and team-best ninth goal for the 3-1 lead at 66:23.

The Mountain Lions held a 22-16 advantage in shots, including 8-6 in shots on goal, and were plus-6 on corner chances (9-3).

Haines and Grotz had two looks on frame, while Randle and Leach each collected one.

Sophomore Collin Hall (7-5-1) was credited with the tie in goal, stopping five attempts between the 110:00 minutes of regulation and overtime.

The endline duo Hall and Clark, as well as Leach, Randle, Haines and senior Matthew Alemann, attained recognition on the 12-player RMAC All-Tournament Team.

Positioned fifth in the regional rankings prior to weekend, the men will learn their NCAA tournament fate at 5:30 p.m. on Monday through the Division II selection show on www.ncaa.com.

RMAC TOURNAMENT HEADQUARTERS

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