DENVER— History made!
 
The Colorado Mesa University women's lacrosse team made school and Western United States history on Friday as the nation's 17^th-ranked and Midwest Region No. 3 seeded Mavericks upset No. 8 and second-seeded Lindenwood University by a 13-9 margin in the first round of the NCAA Division II Tournament. 
 
The victory was CMU's first over Lindenwood in 15­ all-time tries and makes the Mavericks the first team ever based west of the Continental Divide to qualify for and win an NCAA Division II Tournament Game.  The Mavericks (15-3), who were making their debut appearance in the tournament also avenged a 20-9 away loss to Lindenwood in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Tournament semifinals just seven days earlier in St. Charles, Missouri.
 
CMU will now play Sunday against the host and top-seeded Regis University Rangers, ranked second nationally according to the latest IWLCA Division II Coaches' Poll.  That game will be played at RU's on-campus Match Pitch, starting at noon.
 
Both of Friday's games were moved cross-town to MSU Denver's artificial turf Regency Athletic Complex Field.
 
Regis, a perfect 19-0, defeated No. 4 seed and 12^th-ranked Indianapolis, 17-14 earlier in the day.
 
The Mavericks overcame a nervous start and held the normally high-powered Lions to just one goal in a 4-1 run over more than 17 minutes to take a 6-4 lead.  The Lions, who fell to 16-3, then equalized before the half.
 
However, the Mavericks again clamped down in the second half to score seven of the next nine goals over the 22:02 of the second half to build a 13-8 lead en-route to the historic win.
 
Sophomore goalie Lula Mitchell, playing just minutes from her former Denver East High School stomping grounds, made a season-high 11 saves throughout.  The Mavericks also caused 21 and took advantage of 27 Lion turnovers.  Erin Koehler led that charge with seven caused turnovers and nine ground balls.  Kiley Barber also caused five turnovers.
 
Offensively, Kenzie Blackwell and Olivia Hayden each recorded a hat-trick.
 
Blackwell had back-to-back goals to trigger the first half run while Hayden scored all three of her goals in the second half, including the opening two of the frame.  She also had eight draw controls and six ground balls.
 
Marissa Leonardi also had three offensive points with two goals and scored the Mavericks' first NCAA Tournament goal in program history 8:16 into the game cutting LU's early 2-0 lead to just one.
 
After the Lions went ahead 3-1 just 40 seconds later, Blackwell got the offense moving with her two goals just 2:16 apart to tie the game.
 
After the Lions answered to move back ahead, 4-3, Barber, Leonardi and Mary Koch all scored thanks in part to two Amanda Barton helpers to give the Mavericks their first leads at 5-4 and 6-4.
 
Hayden, who now has a 58 goals this season, then took over scoring all three of her goals in CMU's 7-2 game-winning run.  She is now just one away from tying Jessica Cook's single-season school-record of 59.
 
The Mavericks finished the game with a 30-22 advantage in total shots, putting 22 of them on frame.