GOLDEN, Colo. – The Regis University men's soccer team dueled top-seeded No. 14 Colorado School of Mines for an automatic qualifier for the NCAA Tournament in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) Tournament Championship Final at Stermole Soccer Stadium on Friday. Ultimately, the Orediggers converted one more goal in the shootout, 7-6, to beat the No. 2 seed Rangers, who forced double overtime with a 1-1 score in regulation.
 
"They did everything that they possibly could," said coach Tony McCall about his players. "In the end, obviously, it wasn't meant to be. But, we've had such a fantastic season. Coming in, we knew we had some talent, but we didn't realize how good we were.
 
"This group has grown together this year, and it's part of the journey. We just have to now hurt for a little while and wait and try and get up and get at it again in the spring."
 
How It Happened: The Rangers and Orediggers endured 20 minutes worth of overtimes, which culminated in the penalty-kick shootout.
 
After Regis and Colorado School of Mines each had at least one advantage during the shootout, CSM's redshirt sophomore defender Patrick Allan brought the home team to a 7-6 advantage with his shot to the upper-right corner.
 
However, redshirt senior goalkeeper Drew Johnson dove to his left to deflect RU's seventh attempt, giving the Orediggers their biggest stop of the season, and ultimately, the RMAC Tournament Championship title.
 
Colorado School of Mines went on the offensive early and junior midfielder Talon Stanley attempted a shot in the sixth minute, but it was saved in the bottom-left corner by junior goalkeeper Tim Dolan.
 
Junior midfielder John Halter was responsible for the Rangers' first shot-on-goal in the 12th minute in which he curved a cross shot from the right half of the box, but it was saved by Johnson.
 
Halter then had another shot late in the 23rd minute, following a frontward deflection out of the box by Johnson, but it was saved by the aforementioned goalkeeper again in the bottom-right corner.
 
Sophomore forward Ethan Willson gave Regis some hope in the 41st minute when he received a pass deep in CSM territory, but Willson's kick went right into Johnson's clutch. 
 
RU last experienced a close call in the first half when senior midfielder Ford Edwards' 44th-minute shot approached the goal, but it proved to go wide-right.
 
With the Rangers and Orediggers deadlocked in a scoreless tie in the 70th minute, freshman midfielder Ian Kugler received a pass from redshirt senior forward Ben Overholt. Kugler then took the shot to the goal box's upper-right corner for Colorado School of Mines' 1-0 lead.
 
Undeterred by the deficit, freshman forward Pascal von Matthey later outpaced Johnson to the ball and directed his shot to the bottom-right corner for the unassisted, 1-1 equalizer early in the 72nd minute.
 
Regis junior defender Danilo Pekovic was responsible for the last shot-on-goal in regulation, which went to the bottom-left corner and was saved at the 85:14 mark.
 
RU and CSM combined for eight shots in the 20-minute span of the double overtimes. In fact, it was sophomore defender Nick Mootz's 104th-minute shot to the upper-right corner that resulted in the only post-regulation save before the shootout.
 
The Rangers had a slight advantage over the Orediggers in the shots count, 18-16, but had an even bigger advantage in shots-on-goal, 7-2.
 
Game Notes: von Matthey (1 G, 1 S, 1 SOG) tied the game in the second half and forced the match beyond regulation. Halter (4 S, 2 SOG) had a share of the game-high in shots and paced all players in shots-on-goal. Mootz (2 S, 1 SOG), Willson (2 S, 1 SOG), Pekovic (1 S, 1 SOG) and junior forward Jean Carre (1 S, 1 SOG) all had a shot-on-goal. Dolan (1 SV) had one save in regulation and one save in the shootout.
 
In their final match as Rangers, senior midfielders Luca Kother and senior midfielder Porter Milner as well as senior defender Colton Hefty received special recognition for their contributions to Regis from McCall.
 
"Obviously, you don't want your seasons to end," McCall said. "It's the end of three careers. Porter Milner, Luca Kother and Colton Hefty. Colton who unfortunately couldn't play this year but has been such a big part of our program, and Luca and Porter are our leaders, and they always will be so I'm desperately sad for them to have to go out with a loss. But, they've had fantastic careers here, and we're going to miss them."

Kother had one shot and played the entire 110 minutes, while Milner was on the field for 80 minutes. 
 
Following the conclusion of the match, the RMAC All-Tournament Team was announced:
 
RMAC All-Tournament Team
Loic Jean-Baptiste       R-So.   MF      Fort Lewis
Moises Medina            Sr.        F         Dixie State
Nick Mootz                  So.       D         Regis
Ben Shepherd             So.       MF      Regis
Pascal von Matthey     Fr.        F         Regis
Tim Dolan                    Jr.        GK       Regis
Lucas King                  R-So.   D/MF   Colorado School of Mines
Ford Edwards             Sr.        MF       Colorado School of Mines
Ben Overholt               R-Sr.    F          Colorado School of Mines
Patrick Allan                R-So.   D          Colorado School of Mines
Jason Zobott               Sr.        D          Colorado School of Mines
 
RMAC All-Tournament Most Valuable Player
Drew Johnson             R-Sr.    GK       Colorado School of Mines
 
Up Next for the Rangers: Regis moves to an 11-6-3 record overall. RU will wait to see if its name is called during the unveiling of the NCAA Tournament bracket in the not-too-distant future.

In regards to the 2020 season, McCall said what he hopes will happen.
 
"Hopefully, more nights like this but being on the other side of the score at the very end," McCall said. "We're very disappointed, I'm heartbroken for my kids, but I'm so, so proud of them, and we couldn't have asked them to do anything more. … This is one of the best groups that we've had, and we've had a number of really good groups here. These kids are special."