GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. – This year's edition of the Colorado Mesa Maverick Women's Lacrosse team will open up the 2020 season in Las Vegas against Lindenwood University at noon on Saturday at Teton Field.
With limited resources at the field there will be no live stream and the availability to live stats is tentative.
All About the Mavericks
Led by second year head coach Shanta Loecker, the Mavericks are coming off a historic season that saw them go 15-4 and record the program's first ever NCAA appearance and tournament win. In RMAC games the Mavs completed a 7-2 season. Their 15 wins during the 2019 season marked two more wins than any CMU squad has ever won before.
As a unit, the 21-man squad welcomes back 11 players while featuring 10 newcomers. The roster earned a second-seed in RMAC Preseason Coaches' Poll prediction and features nine freshmen.
Coach Loecker, sat down with media prior to their trip to discuss the upcoming season. The women's lacrosse preview can be found in the link provided above.
Kenzie Blackwell and Raquel Ruhme were selected as RMAC Preseason Players to Watch and will both be entering their junior seasons. Both players are coming off All-RMAC seasons as each earned All-RMAC Honorable Mention last year. Blackwell recorded 16 starts and the third most points (59) on the team during her sophomore campaign, while Ruhme recorded a start in every game and caused 13 turnovers and picked up 18 ground balls last season.
Both of the Mavericks goalkeepers are returning to this year's roster. Lula Mitchell who saw the most time in the net last season recorded 94 saves and 10.47 goals against average while Cami Huff played in eight games recorded 20 saves and 3.78 goals against average.
The Mavericks are joined this season by assistant coach Ashley Delaney who is in her first season with the Mavericks. Delaney joins the Mavericks after coaching as an assistant coach at Muhlenberg College, a Division III school in Allentown, Pa.
National Rankings
The Mavericks began the season ranked No. 14 in the IWLCA Preseason Poll after finishing last season ranked No. 10.
This weekend's opponent, Lindenwood, checked into the preseason ranking at No. 9 while RMAC foe Regis University ranked No.4 .
The first weekly IWLCA Division II Coaches Poll of the 2020 season will be published on Feb 24.
Scouting Lindenwood
Lindenwood was picked to finish first in the GLVC Women's Lacrosse Coaches Preseason Poll
The Lions are coached by Jack Cribben who is entering his 15th season and ninth season competing at the NCAA level.
The team will be led by Carly Fedorowski who was an First Team All-RMAC member last season and a third team IWLCA All-American last season. She returned to this years roster after recording a team high 64 points this season, a team high 57 ground balls, and scoring 45 goals.
As starting goalkeeper all last season, Ally Smith, is likely to play on Saturday.
The Mavericks recorded their first ever win against Lindenwood last season in the NCAA tournament which snapped a 14-game losing streak to the Lions. The Mavericks defeated the Lions 13-9 in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament and went on to face Regis in the Midwest Regional final where they fell, 16-14.
Up Next
The Mavericks will travel to St. Paul, MN for games on Feb 21-22. The Mavericks will take on Concordia – St. Paul on Friday (Feb 21) at noon followed by a game against Upper Iowa University on Saturday (Feb 22) at 10 am.
The Mavericks first home game will be on Mar 4 against Northern Michigan University.
