Scott Kretzmann
ASC Sports Information
Junior Amber Drumm scored her team-leading sixth goal of the season on a header off a pass from sophomore Passion Griffin to even the score at 1-1 early in the match, but the Grizzlies were unable to come up with answers for the final two Colorado Mines goals on Sunday afternoon at Murphy Field, falling 3-1 to the Orediggers in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference play.
The Orediggers (8-5-3, 7-4-1 RMAC) clinched the fifth spot in the league tournament with the victory, while the Grizzlies (4-11-1, 3-8-1 RMAC) remain in the hunt for the sixth and final berth.
Adams State currently stands eighth in the RMAC, three points back of UC-Colorado Springs (7-8-1, 4-7-1 RMAC), sixth in the league standings with 13 points following a loss to 14th-ranked Metro State on Sunday, and two points behind Nebraska-Kearney (6-7-3, 3-6-3 RMAC), which played No. 24 Regis to scoreless draw Sunday.
The first two goals of Sunday’s match were scored via header. Mines grabbed the lead just 11 minutes and 41 seconds into the action, as a Megan Woodworth corner kick was redirected into the back of the net off the head of Jessica Stark. It was one of six corner kick opportunities for the Orediggers in the contest, while the Grizzlies took just one.
But less than four minutes after Mines scored, Adams State answered back. Griffin dribbled the ball into the left-hand corner of the field and struck a pass to the far post where Drumm was waiting. The assist was Griffin’s first career point, and Drumm’s sixth goal of the season, which ties her season best, set as a freshman in 2008, and raises her career tally to 13, good for fourth all-time amongst Grizzlies and just one goal back of teammate junior Jessica Hellweg.
The Orediggers held an 18-6 advantage in shots in the first half, though the Grizzlies showed impressive accuracy in putting 4-of-6 shots on goal. But Mines, which put six shots on goal, connected for a second time at the 31:53 mark, as Woodworth, who moved up to fourth in the conference with 21 points this season following her three points against ASC, struck for her seventh goal of the season.
Despite Mines having controlled the ball for most of the first 45 minutes, the Grizzlies entered the half trailing just 2-1. However, with less than two minutes having ticked off the clock in the second, the Orediggers increased their lead to 3-1. Stark became the second Mines player to have a 3-point day, receiving credit for an assist after a shot of her’s was blocked but corralled by teammate Erin Onat and put past Grizzly freshman keeper Hannah Kohlts.
Kohlts made nine saves in the match, her second-highest single-game total. The start, which was Kohlts’ 13th of the season, moves her into fourth all-time for starts in a season amongst ASC goalies, and also gives her the freshman record, previously held by Jasmine Burt who started 12 during the 2008 season.
Adams State was managed only three shots in the second half, and none on goal. Drumm and sophomore Hannah Kimball were the only Grizzlies to record two shots in the match, each placing one on goal.
Sophomore Bryanna Brown and freshman Alex Sanderson each had an on target shot as well.
Both Woodworth and Anna Evans fired off seven shots for the Orediggers, who ended the game with 30 shots and 13 on goal.
Adams State will begin the final weekend of the regular season on the road, facing No. 24 Regis in Denver on Friday afternoon at 1 p.m., but return to Murphy Field on Sunday for the season finale with Nebraska-Kearney, a game in which the final RMAC tournament berth may be on the line.
The Grizzlies hosted the then unranked Rangers on Oct. 1, falling 2-0 as Regis scored a pair of second-half goals. Adams State has yet to face Nebraska-Kearney this season, but topped the Lopers twice during the 2009 season, the only two previous meetings between the programs. That match will also serve as Parent’s Day and Senior Day at Murphy Field.
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