Golden, Colo. Rapid City, SD – The Adams State Men's soccer team kicked off week two of conference play on the road this weekend, visiting the Orediggers for a Friday night contest in Golden, followed by a Sunday morning matchup against SD School of Mines in Rapid City. The Grizzlies fought through all 90 minutes of both matchups but will return home winless on the early season.

Friday Night Lights
The Grizzlies faced a tough task early in the season, visiting the home of the RMAC leading Colorado School of Mines for a matchup that would stay scoreless into the 33^rd minute of the first half. Adams State saw early action on offense as junior forward, Benji Rogers fired a shot in the 8^th minute, putting the Grizzlies on a strong offensive front into the 14^th minute. The two teams would trade shots until CSM came in hot with a corner kick in the 33^rd minute of the matchup. Orediggers only needed twenty seconds to capitalize as Adam Kindorf of CSM fired his first goal of the season to make the score 1-0. Adams State's Greysen Gilman showed retaliation after the score but came up short into halftime.
 
Colo. School of Mines came into the second half with five shots to put the Grizzlies under early pressure. Three of the five were blocked, and the Grizzlies set off for retaliation. Shots from Abdoule Danso and Ivan Medina kept Adams State in contention, but the aggressive push fell short. A red card brought the Grizzlies down late in the 69^th minute, taking Sophomore Nic Gindulis out of the game. CSM eventually capitalized on another corner kick in the 78^th minute, scoring another goal to put the Grizzlies down 0-2 in Golden.
 
The Orediggers brought out the offense that earned them the leading spot in the RMAC, having a total of 31 shots with nine on goal compared to the Grizzlies nine total with one on goal. Both teams had an aggressive match with 23 total fouls between contenders, 12 for Adams State, 11 on Colo. School of Mines.
Regarding the teams falling, head coach, Matt Munhall said "School of Mines is a very strong team and difficult to break down. We were under their pressure, but we were in the contest, keeping it close at 1-0. An unfortunate red card shown to our last defender that brought down an attacking player forced us to play man down for most of the second half. Any time you lose a player on the field it is a battle but being down 1-0 made that challenge that much greater. Eventually Mines was able to find an opportunity to make it 2-0. I am proud of our boys for their effort and not giving up a goal in the run of play. We need to be better on defending set pieces, and that can help us stay in games longer. We are already turning our sights on Sunday's game against SD Mines and will work for a result there."
Sunday in South Dakota
After holding #1 in the RMAC to only a single goal until late in Friday night's matchup, the now 0-4 Grizzlies traveled north on a mission.
 
Adams State made their presence known early in the first half with junior midfielder, Raul Magno firing a shot in the fifth minute of the game. Adams State kept on the offensive until the 28^th minute. SD Mines would have some shots in retaliation, but it would be the Grizzlies who dominated the first half with nine shots compared to SD Mines four.
 
The Grizzlies stayed aggressive into the second half with early shots being exchanged by both teams. Abdoulie Danso, leading Adams State's offense, sent a shot firing toward SD Mines which would result in the game's first goal in the 60^th minute. SD Mines would only need six minutes to come back, capitalizing on a free kick from George Martinez, knotting the teams up 1-1 late in the second half. The Grizzlies would have a penalty kick of their own in the 74^th minute of the matchup but resulted in the save for SD Mines goalkeeper, Tyler Ring.
 
 Ring would show out again in the first period of overtime, saving a shot from Adam State's Diego Juarez. Sunday morning's matchup would result in a tie after two ten-minute periods of overtime, putting the Grizzlies at 0-5-1 (0-3-1, RMAC) on the season. This is the second consecutive year that this annual RMAC matchup has resulted in a tie.
 
Grizzlies showed out on offense, having 24 total shots with ten on goal compared to SD Mines 14 with four on goal. Four yellow cards and a red card were drawn after an aggressive conference matchup. Adams State had 15 fouls and one yellow card while SD Mines had 12 fouls, three yellow cards, and a red card.
 
"We missed our chances to put away the contest early. SDSMT fought to stay in the game and their goalkeeper and back line kept them alive through OT. Giving up a penalty-kick that our opponent convers, while drawing a penalty-kick and not converting made the game even more difficult. We are proving that we can hang around with our opponents. We need to be more aggressive in closing the games out now and making out chances count." -Head Coach, Matthew Munhall
 
The Adams State Men's soccer team comes home for a Friday afternoon matchup against Regis at 3:00 p.m. followed by a Sunday afternoon matchup kicking off at 1:00 p.m. The Grizzlies look for their first wins on the season to keep them in contention for the RMAC playoffs this November.