It is that time of year once again with the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) women's lacrosse tournament taking place this week. With an 11-3 overall record, and a 7-2 conference record, the Mavericks enter the tournament as the No. 3 seed and will be facing off against Rockhurst University (RU) in the first round Thursday afternoon at 4 p.m.
 
Since switching to the RMAC in 2014, Colorado Mesa University is a perfect 7-0 in games against RU. The Mavericks have won those games by an average of 12 goals per game.
 
This is the second season in a row where the Mavericks and the Hawks will meet in the first round of the RMAC tournament. Last season, CMU won the first-round matchup 16-4 and advanced to take on Regis in the second round. Olivia Hayden led the game with three goals scored.
 
These teams met only once during the regular season, back on March 14 in Kansas City, Mo. In that game, the Mavericks doubled up RU when the game clock struck zero as CMU walked out with the 16-8 victory.
 
The Mavericks used a strong outing from their threatening threesome in Hayden, Lindsi Peters and Jessica Cook to leap out in front in the contest. All three finished with four goals in the game. Cook also added three assists to her stat line to give her a game high seven points.
 
Since that game the Mavericks went 6-3, losing twice to Regis University and once to Lindenwood University (LU). But, CMU closed out the regular season by winning their last two games by a combined score of 37-14.
 
The three-headed dragon of Peters, Cook and Hayden have headed the Mavericks success all season long. CMU is one of three teams in the RMAC (Regis and Lindenwood) that has three players with over 30 goals on the season.
 
Another work horse for the Mavericks has been Lula Mitchell. She leads the conference in total minutes played in goal with 840. She has started all 14 games for CMU, and has never been taken out once all season long. She is one of five goalies that has over 100 saves on the season (111).
 
As a team, the combination of offense and defense has given the Mavericks a plus 78 in goal differential this season, which is ranked third in the conference.
 
Meanwhile, the Hawks closed out the regular season going 2-3 to finish with an 8-6 overall record and a 4-5 conference one. They snuck into the final playoff spot with a 21-1 win over Oklahoma Baptist University in the final game of the regular season.
 
RU has been reliant on Hannah Miller all season long to be their goal scorer and their offensive creator. She ranks inside the top 10 in goals scored (34), assists (23) and total points (57) in the RMAC this season.
 
If CMU is able to advance on Thursday, they will square off with the No. 11 ranked Rangers on Friday afternoon. In two games this season, the Mavericks are 0-2 in games against Regis. The Mavericks lost those games by an average of 9.5 goals per game.
 
It would be the third consecutive year where the Mavericks and the Rangers have met in the RMAC tournament. CMU would have a tough task ahead of them if they make it to the second round as the Mavericks have not won a game against the Rangers dating back to 2014.
 
The championship game of the RMAC tournament is set to take place on Sunday afternoon.