GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. – The Colorado Mesa Mavericks women's lacrosse team will take on Westminster this Saturday in their last Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference road game of the season. The game will take place at Dumke Field and begin at 1 pm in Salt Lake City.
Live statistics and streaming of the game can be found at the links above. Along with a live steam the game will be streamed through the Westminster YouTube channel.
The Mavericks are 11-2 overall and 5-2 in RMAC play with two game remaining in the conference schedule. With this record the Mavs are third behind Regis (13-0, 6-0) and Lindenwood (12-1, 4-1). The Mavs are recently coming off their third shutout win of the season after defeating Adams State 19-0 last Sunday.
Senior Olivia Hayden currently leads the Mavericks with 42 goals. She is second in points behind Paige Elliott who has totaled 63 points and recorded 49 assists. Her 4.08 assists per game is second best among all Division II women's lacrosse players. Hayden has totaled 54 points, 116 draw controls, and 47 caused turnovers. She is averaging 3.62 caused turnovers per game which is second best in the nation and 8.92 draw controls which is fourth best among all Division II women's lacrosse players.
She is the only current active player to be in the top five for draw controls, ground balls, and caused turnovers per game.
Senior teammate Erin Koehler ranks alongside her in both ground balls and caused turnovers per game. She is averaging 4.85 ground balls which is tied for fourth with Hayden and is averaging 3.54 caused turnovers which is fourth best in the nation.
National Rankings
In the Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association Poll the Mavericks moved back one spot to No. 15. They have been ranked for nine consecutive polls dating back to January 28.
In the most recent USLacrosse Magazine Media Poll which was released April 15 the Mavericks check in at No. 16.
Regional Ranking
The Mavericks rank fourth in the first Midwest Regional ranking behind Regis, Lindenwood, and UIndy. The Mavericks sit very comfortably in the fourth spot as they have head-to-head wins over both teams who sit behind them which are Grand Valley State and Tiffin.
There will be two more regional rankings released before the final announcement which will be in conjunction with the release of the NCAA Division II Tournament. The top four teams from the region will qualify for the tournament.
Scouting Westminster
The Griffins of Salt Lake City are currently sixth in the conference standings with a 3-3 RMAC record. They have lost four more games outside of conference giving them a 3-7 overall record. In their most recent game they lost to CSU-Pueblo 13-9, a team that the Mavs defeated 15-9 back on March 31.
This is not the first time the Mavericks have seen Westminster this season as they defeated them 23-6 back on March 1 in their second game of the season. In this non-conference matchup four different Mavericks recorded three or more goals. Olivia Hayden was good for eight points (six goals, two assists) and Ashton Whittle recorded four goals. Kenzie Blackwell recorded three assists and three goals while Marissa Leonardi found the net on three different occasions.
The Griffin squad is led by Maddie Ingman who has totaled 23 points including 17 goals and six assists. On the defensive end goalie Mikala Davis has totaled 43 ground balls and caused seven turnovers but Anna Waddoups leads the team with 11 caused turnovers.
The Griffins use two different goalkeepers but will likely start Davis who has been in the net for more than 500 minutes this season and accumulated 97 saves and a 15.50 goals against average.
Next Up
The Mavericks will return to Walker Field next weekend for their final home game of the 2019 season. The game will take on Fort Lewis College on April 26 at 4 pm. The Mavericks seniors will be honor prior to the start time as this is their final game on Walker Field.
