GOLDEN, Colo. – The Regis University men's soccer team fought hard for the entire 110 minutes on the field and came away with a scoreless deadlock against No. 18 Colorado School of Mines at Stermole Soccer Stadium on Sunday.
 
"It feels like a loss," said coach Tony McCall. "I think that Mines are a fantastic program, but I think today they saw what we had, and I think it'll be interesting to see what happens when we get into the [conference] tournament. Hopefully, we'll see them again. But, congratulations to them and winning the conference … the regular season.
 
"But, I thought our boys were fantastic. We've got good players, and we have a good team. We're young, but we're learning fast, and I think we left two or three chances out there that could've tipped the scales for us a little bit today. But, again, we're disappointed, but we're alive and that's where you want to be at this time of the season."
 
How It Happened: Upon enduring regulation, the Rangers and Orediggers entered the first overtime in which Mines held Regis without a shot. RU avoided a scare when junior goalkeeper Tim Dolan saved senior defender Jason Zobott's shot to the bottom-left of the goalbox in the 93rd minute.
 
In the second overtime, the Rangers turned up the offense and proceeded to get a couple shots-on-goal in the process. Sophomore defender Nick Mootz's 109th-minute shot to the bottom-left was saved by redshirt senior goalkeeper Drew Johnson.
 
With just 21 seconds left in the second overtime, sophomore defender Michael Jimenez kicked a shot to the bottom-left of the goal, but it was deflected by a CSM player and resulted in a team save. Jimenez's shot proved to be the final one of the match.
 
During a scoreless first half, Regis had its chances to put some points on the board.
 
RU's last shot-on-goal in the opening 45 minutes took place in the 37th minute when sophomore forward Kristian Hooker drilled a shot from 10 yards out to the bottom-right of the goal box, but it was saved by Johnson in a diving motion.
 
The Rangers were very impressive on the defensive and prevented the nationally-ranked Orediggers from recording a single shot during the initial frame.
 
"I think we were the better team in the first half," McCall said. "I think we had them on the back foot."
 
Regis nearly broke the tie in the 73rd minute when a free kick landed in front of the goalbox and a shot from sophomore midfielder Ben Shepherd was saved in the bottom-left by Johnson and was followed shortly after by a shot off the left post by Jimenez.
 
RU recorded its last on-target shot within regulation during the 77th minute when junior forward Jean Carre sent a shot to the top. However, it was saved by Johnson.
 
The Rangers won the shots count by a 19-12 margin for the game and bested the Orediggers, 6-4, in the shots-on-goal tally. Mines did have a more active offense in overtime though, when it had a 7-2 advantage in that 20-minute span.
 
Game Notes: Carre (3 S, 1 SOG) had a share of the game-high in shots. Mootz (2 S, 1 SOG) and Jimenez (2 S, 1 SOG) each contributed one of their two respective shots on-target. Shepherd (1 S, 1 SOG), freshman forward Pascal von Matthey (1 S, 1 SOG) and Hooker (1 S, 1 SOG) all had one shot that was on-goal. Dolan (4 SV) recorded his sixth shutout of the season.
 
Up Next for the Rangers: Regis moves to a 10-5-2 record overall and a 9-3-1 record in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) play to clinch second place in the conference to claim a first-round bye in the RMAC Tournament. With the tie, CSM (12-3-3, 10-1-3 RMAC) claimed the regular-season title.
 
RU will be hosting the winner of the 3 p.m. Thursday match between No. 3-seed Colorado Mesa (10-4-3, 8-3-3 RMAC) and No. 6-seed Fort Lewis (10-4-4, 8-4-2 RMAC) on Sunday at Regis Match Pitch. Kickoff time is to be determined. Before that happens though, the Rangers will travel to The Regency Athletic Complex to face Metropolitan State University of Denver (9-7-1, 7-5-1 RMAC) on Tuesday at 3 p.m. during Military Appreciation Day.
 
While Regis will have to wait at least a game if it wins its semifinals match, McCall would be in favor of facing Mines again.
 
"Two totally contrasting styles of teams, and I think that we match up well with them," McCall said. "So, hopefully, we'll get another dig at them here in the conference tournament. But, again, it was a tie that feels like a loss. So that means we're making progress, and the guys are really believing in themselves."
 
Stay tuned for updates at www.regisrangers.com.