GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. - The 2019 edition of the Colorado Mesa Women's Lacrosse program will begin their season Saturday at 1 pm in a nonconference contest against CSU Pueblo. The Maverick's schedule features six home games to begin the season including the Mavs first three Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference games.
This year's team is led by new Head Coach Shanta Loecker who stated in Tuesday's media scrum, "There is a lot of new systems and things we've worked on, I don't expect them to work perfectly this weekend but I do expect to see a healthy team dynamic, good energy and really solid effort."
For the full pregame interview with head coach Shanta Loecker and senior Olivia Hayden click the video featured in this story's picture.
About the Mavericks
The Mavericks were picked third in this seasons RMAC Preseason Coaches' Poll after receiving 64 votes. Regis and Lindenwood tied for first place with 77 points each. For a look at the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference release click on the link provided above.
Both seniors Olivia Hayden and Erin Koehler were named to the Preseason All-RMAC team after each earning first team honors a year ago.
Last season Hayden scored the second most goals on the team with 37. She also added 13 assists during her junior season and picked up a team high 40 ground balls.
Koehler started in all 16 games for the Mavericks and picked up 34 ground balls and caused 21 turnovers as one of the Mavericks best defenders.
Both of these Mavs were named to the Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association All-Midwest Region Team last season. Hayden made program history by being named to the Google Cloud Academic All-America Women's At- Large Third Team which was selected by CoSIDA.
This year's team features six seniors and includes five freshmen included four from around Colorado.
The Mavericks were picked as contenders in two different preseason national polls. They were ranked No. 15 in the Nike/USL Preseason Top 20 which was announced Jan 7.
For the IWLCA Division II Preseason poll the Mavs were tabbed No. 22 out of 25 teams at the Division II level. This poll will be released weekly during the regular season. Their next published poll will be released on Feb 29.
Scouting CSU Pueblo
The Thunderwolves were picked eighth in this year's preseason coaches' poll after receiving 31 points. Last season they finished seventh and just one spot shy of making the RMAC Tournament.
This game will also serve as the Thunderwolves opening game of the season. Just a season ago the Thunderwolves finished with a 4-11 record and a 3-6 conference mark. The Thunderwolves are returning three honorable mention players from a year ago.
The Mavericks defeated the Thunderwovles in both of their meetings last season. In their final meeting last season the Mavericks won a road contest 17-13 on Rawlings Field.
The Mavericks will travel to Pueblo later in the season for a RMAC match up on March 31.
Next Up
The Mavs next opponent will be Westminster College on March 1 at 7 pm at Walker Field. This game is also a non-conference contest for the Mavericks. They will follow this game up with another non-conference match up against Grand Valley State University on March 5 at 5 pm.
