GOLDEN, Colo. – Looking to start off the season with their fourth consecutive win for the second season in a row, the #6 Colorado School of Mines women's soccer team was back in action Sunday against West Texas A&M at Stermole Stadum. In a match that was all Orediggers (4-0-0) from the opening whistle, three different players scored headlined by the third hat trick in as many season by Reese McDermott while six different players recorded a point by way of a goal or an assist as they easily handled the Lady Buffs (2-1-0) 5-0.
 
The first goal of the match came just nine minutes into the action as WT's Kyndahl Britton was whistled for a takedown of Cloey Seltzer inside the box, resulting in a penalty award to the Orediggers. Bella Campos, who converted her first PK of the season Thursday, stood over the ball and on the whistle buried the ball in the back of the net for the early lead.
 
Several more shot attempts from Mines came as the action continued, including shots from Ava Harman and McDermott that were both saved by Reagan Heelan. In the 35th minute Britton was again whistled for a hard foul inside the penalty area, this time against Campos which sent McDermott to the spot for the first time this season. The senior's run up was good but the penalty shot missed wide left as for the moment, it remained a one-goal game.
 
In the 37th minute a free kick for WTAMU turned into as shot from Jordan Bearden as she went for goal looking to draw back even, but from 30 yards out Allie Lundgren was able to position herself easily to make the save.
 
Shortly before the half wrapped up, the Orediggers offense was pressing home their attack against the Lady Buffs as in the 43rd minute Kaitlyn Manalili's hard drive to edge of the 18 from the far side saw her play a cross back to the near side for Jordan Bowermaster, who was able to head the ball off a defender and toward McDermott, who finished the play off with a left-footed tap in off the hands of Heelan to double the lead to 2-0 heading to the break.
 
To their credit, West Texas A&M came out looking to get back into contention in the second half with three shots in the opening 13 minutes of the half, but the first missed wide left while Lundgren got her hands on the other two to maintain the advantage.
 
Following a flurry of shots in and around the 63rd minute, Mines added another score to the tally in the 70th minute. After taking a pass from Laura Butler on the near side, Ellise Putnam dribbled inside the box and up the endline, forcing Healen to come off her line to try and make the stop. Putnam dished the ball quickly to the top of the six-yard box to a waiting McDermott, who pirouetted to her left to shake her defender to finish with her left foot for the second time in the match.
 
Goals four and five followed in short order, with the Orediggers catching WTAMU  out of position defensively as a long ball ahead from behind midfield by Putnam to McDermott set up a one-on-one situation with Heelan, who make a sliding stop to break up McDermott's run but was unable to corral the loose ball. McDermott recovered from being upended first and managed a quick pass to Butler, who collected it up, dribbled around a defender and pulled up from the top of the penalty area with a shot that sailed over the top of two defenders who tried in vain to make the save, but with no luck as ball met net to extend the lead further.
 
The final goal of the afternoon saw Bowermaster and McDermott applying pressure on the Lady Buffs that forced them to play the ball backwards, leading to McDermott picking the pocket of Bearden before racing back the other way, shaking a defender and tucking a shot inside the right post to turn in a hat trick and make it a 5-0 game, capping off an electrifying three-and-a-half minute sequence of events.
 
With the outcome all but decided, both sides played out the stretch by emptying their benches over the final 17 minutes of action as Mines maintained their momentum to start the 2024 season with a convincing win.
 
NOTABLES
-McDermott added her name to the Mines record book in a few more places Sunday, recording her third career hat trick and joining Kayla Mitchell (2006-09) and Anna Evans (2010-13) as the only other players to record three or more hat tricks in their career
-The seven points by McDermott Sunday are also tied for the second-most in a game in program history, joining the aforementioned Evans and Mitchell, the latter of whom recorded four such games in her career
-McDermott now has 38 career goals, which is now tied for third all-time with Megan Woodworth (2009-12) and is up to 89 points as she chases Woodworth's 120 for third in that category
-Also worth noting McDermott came off the bench Sunday, something she has only done five times in her career and just once in each season since 2022  
-Campos recorded a PK goal for the second match in a row and now has a point in three consecutive matches, something she did last season as part of a seven-match point streak from October 15-November 8 of 2023
-Butler's goal marked her first of the season and 12th of her career as she last scored on October 20 of last season against New Mexico Highlands
-Bowermaster logged the first assist of her collegiate career in the winning effort while Kaitlyn Manalili and Ellise Putnam each recorded their first assists of the season
-Speaking of Putnam, she came out on the winning side of the matchup with her younger sister Avery, a sophomore for the Lady Buffs
-Lundgren made her first regular season start in goal since September 30, 2022 against Colorado Mesa and finished the day with three saves for her second career shutout while improving to 3-1-0 in her career
-Lindsay Jeans made her Mines debut when she checked in during the second half of play
-For the second consecutive match, the Orediggers held the opposition to single-digit shot attempts with WTAMU getting off just six tries over 90 minutes
-Mines ended the day with 19 shots, eight of which were on target
 
UP NEXT
The Orediggers hit the road again next week as they'll visit the Pacific Northwest to take on Saint Martin's and Western Washington next Friday and Sunday at 1 p.m. PT both days.
 
Fans can keep up with Mines women's soccer on Twitter and Instagram at @mineswsoc. They can also keep up with Colorado School of Mines Athletics all year long on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram using the handle @MinesAthletics.