COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – South Dakota Mines Soccer recorded a 1-1 draw against Air Force on Sunday afternoon to move to 2-0-2.
In their first ever matchup with Air Force, the Hardrockers set the tone in the first half. Through the first 37 minutes, South Dakota Mines totaled six shots, including two shots on goal from
Even Henriksen and
Ethan French. In the 37
th minute,
Sawyer Rueckert crossed a ball in and
Erik Castanon collected it to score a goal. It was Castanon's second goal of the season.
Goalkeeper
Abdo Salem Abdullah collected three saves in the first half. Henriksen led the team with three shots.
Zach Peroff picked up a yellow card in the 49
th minute and had a red card in the 59
th minute. The Hardrockers would play down a player for the rest of the match.
Jacob Miklas had a shot saved in the 69
th minute by Air Force goalkeeper Brody Smith. The Falcons tied the match in the 83
rd minute from Attila Toth. Miklas was saved with two second left in the match to finalize the score at 1-1.
Henriksen and Miklas both led the team with three shots and two shots on goal each. Castanon and
Ethan French also tallied a shot on goal. Abdullah made six saves for the Hardrockers with one goal allowed.
With the win, South Dakota Mines is off to their best start of a season since 2017 as they also started that season 2-0-2.
"It is a tremendous result, and it was fully deserved," head coach
Teren Schuster said. We were really organized defensively and made it difficult for Air Force to create clear cut chances. It was a pretty even game until the red card which of course changed the game. To be able to hang on and get a draw while being down to 10 men really showed our character as a team."
What's Next
The Hardrockers will come back home this weekend to face Trinity Bible College on Sept. 20 at 11 a.m. for Family Day. They will head back on the road to face Adams State on Sept. 26 for a non-conference matchup.
