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Storybook season ends for Orediggers
Alison Oien of the Colorado School of Mines tries to tackle the ball away from Grand Valley State striker Irie Dennis on Sunday in Denver. (photo by George Tanner/ColoradoSoccerNow.com)
Grand Valley’s Kristen Eible sends Colorado School of Mines striker Kayla Mitchell flying.
(photo by George Tanner/ColoradoSoccerNow.com)
DENVER — The fairy-tale ending for the Colorado School of Mines soccer team’s storybook season happened downtown, not in Tampa, Florida.
One match away from the Final Four on the Gulf Coast of Florida, the Orediggers ran up against the big, bad Lakers of Grand Valley State, who were undefeated and ranked third in the nation. Grand Valley’s size, skill and strength were too much Saturday at Auraria Field, as Mines fell 3-0 in the fourth round of the NCAA Division II tournament.
Mines played the role of the little engineers that could, advancing to the Elite Eight by knocking off No. 4 Metropolitan State here on the Roadrunners’ home field on Friday. That came after stunning Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference champion Fort Lewis College in Durango in another upset on the road.
But that road ended against the Lakers, who were a pack of hungry wolves in white soccer kits.
Grand Valley’s speed was all the better to blow past you, my dear. Freshman Kayla Addison scored her 10th goal of the season by running down a long ball and slotting it past Mines goalkeeeper Briana Schulze in the 70th minute for a 3-0 lead.
The Lakers’ skill was all the better to slip past you, my dear. They got their second goal when Maria Brown sneaked past defender Stefanie Frelinger with one crafty touch at the end line and fired a wicked centering pass to Ashley Botts, who was charging up the middle. Botts, also a freshman, volleyed the ball home in midair for her 14th goal of the year and a 2-0 lead in the 40th minute.
The Lakers’ power was all the better to knock you over, my dear. Irie Dennis opened the scoring in the 15th minute with a blast from the left corner of the Orediggers’ penalty area. She used her speed to find an open space then unleashed a shot toward the opposite side of goal; it found its mark in the top right corner, just out of Schulze’s reach. It was Dennis’ seventh goal and 20th point of 2009.
Grand Valley outshot Mines 17-5, but the team’s dominance might have been more accurately reflected in goalkeeper Chelsea Parise’s one save in the course of 90 minutes.
“They’re a very good physical team. They have really good athletes. They were well-organized, and the way the match went today really suited them,” Mines coach Frank Kohlenstein said. “They have a chance to go a long way. And one of the other things I like about their team is they’re an all-American team, whereas some of the teams they’ll face or the team that’s most favored now is made up of a lot of foreign players.”
Sam Cardenas had a shot at the end of the first half that sailed just high and just wide of Grand Valley’s goal, but the closest Mines came to scoring was in the second half, courtesy of Kayla Mitchell, the RMAC player of the year.
Mitchell chased down a long pass along the left flank and took one touch to beat defender Amber Bloem. But as Mitchell approached the goal, the ball got too far in front of her, and Parise rushed out to smother it.
“It was a great run to make it to the Elite Eight in the fifth year of our program,” Kohlenstein said. “We’re all in tears now, but we are going to always reflect back on what a beautiful season we had and the special moments all along that made this a great season for Colorado School of Mines.”
The coach said improving on last year’s berth in the NCAA tournament was the Orediggers’ goal in 2009. The team certainly accomplished that.
“Our goals at the beginning of the season were not to be satisfied with where we got to last year,” Kohlenstein said. “Last year we made it into the NCAA tournament, and we were really kind of satisfied with that. We were determined not to let that happen this year, and the women on the team did that.”
RECORDS: Grand Valley improved to 20-0-4. Mines finished the season with a 19-5-1 record.
PLAYER OF THE GAME: Watching Botts play, it’s difficult to believe she’s a freshman. She has five assists to go along with her 14 goals, and she almost added another one with a cross in front of the goal mouth that Addison poked wide. Botts’ size and skill were apparent in the match, and her desire was easy to see. It’s an impressive package for a first-year player, and she was a treat to watch.
MINES STARTERS: Briana Schulze, Aubrey Bagley, Stefanie Frelinger, Jessica Stark, Danielle Hering, Alison Oien, Adrea Johnson, Elizabeth Oba, Kayla Mitchell, Allison Heeg, Megan Woodworth.
GRAND VALLEY STARTERS: Chelsea Parise, Amber Bloem, Katie Johnson, Ashley Botts, Erin Mruz, Megan Brown, Irie Dennis, Jaleen Dingledine, Natalja Stanski, Jenna Wenglinski, Kristen Eible.
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