GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. – After a 2-0 week that vaulted them back into the RMAC tournament places in the standings, Colorado Mesa women's soccer has two more road opportunities this week as the season enters its final five matches.

The Mavericks were in an early hole in the conference standings after dropping three games to a trio of schools with a combined RMAC mark of 17-1-5. But the Mavericks have cruised against anyone outside the top three of the standings so far, including a 2-0 win over Fort Lewis and a 3-0 win over Western Colorado this past week.

With between four and five games remaining for each team, CMU is sixth in the 13-team RMAC with a 4-3 conference record. The top eight teams qualify for the RMAC Tournament.

Coming up, the Mavs hit the road to face Colorado Christian on Friday at 2 p.m. and MSU Denver on Sunday at noon. After this week, CMU's final three regular season games – against Adams State, New Mexico Highlands and Westminster – will all be played at Community Hospital Unity Field in Grand Junction.

Looking Back
Coming off a three-game losing skid against regionally-ranked teams, the Mavericks got back on track with a pair of victories, one at home and one on the road.

Playing Fort Lewis in Grand Junction, the Mavs got a three-point game from Haley Klasner to carry them to a 2-0 win. Klasner struck the corner kick that Ally Wachtel put in for her team-high fifth assist to open the scoring before finding the net herself just three minutes into the second half.

RECAPS: Fort Lewis | Western Colorado

Later on, the Mavs traveled to Gunnison and handily beat Western Colorado 3-0, outshooting the Mountaineers 18-5. Tatum Pfalmer, Talea Kuennen and Kylie Wells each scored, with Wells tapping in a fantastic long-range cross from defender Jacqueline Linn to seal the three points.

Historic Honor
Freshman defender Ally Wachtel became the first defender in program history to win RMAC Defensive Player of the Week.

Wachtel played a key role in both wins, logging all 180 minutes at center back for a defense who allowed only one shot on goal to Western Colorado and five shots on goal over the entire week. She also came forward for her first career college goal against Fort Lewis.

Before Wachtel's achievement this week, the CMU program had not won an RMAC Defensive Player of the Week award since 2013, and at that time, there was no separate category for Goalkeeper of the Week like there is today. Each of the seven Mavericks to previously win the "Defensive" award have been goalkeepers, and Wachtel is the first Maverick outfield player to win the honor since the RMAC began weekly awards in 2001.

Wachtel is the third Mav to win a women's soccer weekly honor this year, joining Offensive Player of the Week Lila Dere and Goalkeeper of the Week Chloe Dody, who both took home the award during the week of September 6.

Triple Trouble
Three Mavericks recorded their first goals of the season this past week, including two freshmen tallying the first of their careers. Tatum Pfalmer, who scored twice last season, got her first of the year to open up the scoring against Western Colorado.

Talea Kuennen made it 2-0 with a great solo goal that included a nutmeg of a defender, and Grand Junction native Kylie Wells timed a run perfectly to get on the end on a Jacqueline Linn cross to make it three. Ally Wachtel scored the first goal of her career earlier in the week against Fort Lewis.

After adding four players to the goal-scoring tally last week, the Mavs have had 12 different players find the net this season. Lila Dere has the lion's share with 15 goals, but Evelyn Hammer (five), Addie Randel (three) and Haley Klasner (two) have also scored multiple times.

Cougars, Meet Dere
In nature, a battle between a deer and a cougar usually goes the cougar's way, but that hasn't been the case on the soccer pitch. In her only career meeting against CCU on October 22, 2021, Lila Dere scored twice but peppered the net with an astonishing 16 shots, currently a program record.

The stage is set for a possible repeat performance, with Dere having already equaled last season's output of 15 goals and leading the nation in shots and shots on goal per game. The Cougars defense has been stingy, however, holding opponents to 12.8 shots per game in 2022.

On the Leaderboards
Colorado Mesa is tied for the RMAC lead with Colorado School of Mines with 33 goals. The Mavs rank fourth in the RMAC with 21 assists and second with 87 points, just one behind Mines.

The Mavericks have taken the most shots (253) and shots in goal (123) in the conference, ranking seventh and 12^th nationally in those two statistics. The CMU goalkeepers rank seventh in the RMAC in goals-against average (1.36), fifth in save percentage (.760) and sixth in total saves (56).

A scoreless week meant Lila Dere held steady at 15 goals, losing the national Division II lead to Fran Soares-Cupertino of West Virginia State, who has 16. Dere still leads the nation in shots per game (6.43, 0.73 ahead of second place) and shots on goal per game (3.46, 0.46 ahead of second place).

About Colorado Christian
Colorado Christian has a 3-9 overall record and a 2-6 RMAC record. The Cougars are currently on a four-game losing streak that includes defeats to Fort Lewis and Western Colorado, who CMU beat last week.

The Cougars and Mavs have a pair of common non-conference opponents, as CCU lost 3-0 to Angelo State and 1-0 to Western Oregon. The Mavericks also lost to both schools.

Colorado Christian likes to play grind-it-out, low-scoring matches. In 12 games so far this season, the Cougars have only scored six times but only allowed 14. Despite the gritty nature of their matches, CCU has been disciplined, with the second-fewest yellow cards in the RMAC (four) and a middle-of-the-pack 8.2 fouls per match.

Senior forward Saige Stock and sophomore midfielder Skylee Deladurantaye lead the team with two goals apiece while sophomore forward Capri Dewing has a goal and three assists for a team-high five points. Junior Alana Lopp has started six of CCU's nine games in goal, making 29 saves against nine goals conceded.

Head Coach Tammy McPherson is a certified CCU legend. Known as Tammy Wishard as a student-athlete, McPherson was a four-time first-team All-RMAC selection and a former RMAC Freshman of the Year. She is the school's all-time leader in single-season and career points while ranking second all-time in career goals, single-season goals and single-season assists. She has been the program's head coach for two stints from 2003-2011 and 2015-present. At the beginning of her second stint, she engineered an impressive turnaround, improving the team from 0-15-3 to 13-8-3 in a single season.

About MSU Denver
Metro State University Denver is a historically great program, winning eight consecutive RMAC regular season championships from 2002-2009, appearing in 13 consecutive NCAA Tournaments from 2002-2014 and capturing national championships in 2004 and 2006. The Roadrunners haven't been back to the NCAA Tournament since that 13-year streak ended, but this year's squad may have the best chance to get back out of any team since then.

The 2022 Roadrunners are 8-2-4 with a 4-1-3 conference record. Picked fifth in the preseason poll, they have punched above their weight on paper to get results, including draws with UCCS and current national No. 10 Colorado School of Mines. They enter the week on a three-game win streak and will have a full week of rest prior to Sunday's matchup with CMU.

Senior forward Jaimy Sawaged leads the team and is tied for fourth in the RMAC with five goals. Senior Paloma Teran has four goals, including three in the past two matches, while Ellie Zimmer's four goals include two last time out against Adams State. Katy Coats has two goals and four assists, including a point in each of the past three games.

Head coach Kat Mertz is in her second year at MSU Denver but has an extensive resume in Division I. Mertz spent five years as the head coach at UNLV from 2005-2009, making the NCAA tournament in each of her first two seasons. She was the head coach at Saint Louis for a year in 2012 before leaving for Oregon. Mertz was at the helm of the Ducks program for seven seasons, going 49-74-13 overall. She has assistant coach experience at UCLA, Texas and Oklahoma. MSU Denver finished 10-6-2 in her first season in charge, just the second time the Roadrunners had reached 10 wins since 2014.

Series Histories
Colorado Mesa leads the season series against Colorado Christian with a 27-9-4 all-time record. The Mavericks have won five of the past six meetings. In the only matchup between the two current head coaches, the Mavs won 4-0 last year behind two goals from Lila Dere and strikes from Mikayla Eccher and Adessa Correa.

With Metro State spending much of the 2000s as a national power, the Mavs trail the Roadrunners 17-27-1 in the all-time series between the schools. The programs have been evenly matched in recent years, as the last seven games have ended in three wins for each school plus a draw. In immediate history, however, the Mavs won in both spring 2021 and fall 2021, by a 1-0 score each time. Lila Dere scored for the Mavs in the former match-up, while Mira Houck had the 22^nd minute winner during last year's regular season.

In the Polls
Colorado School of Mines is the only RMAC team ranked in the national Top 25, currently sitting at No. 10.

The RMAC has five teams in the 10-team South Central regional poll, including upcoming opponent MSU Denver at No. 9. The Mavs' three conference losses – Colorado School of Mines, UCCS and Regis – are ranked No. 2, No. 5 and No. 10, respectively.

The Mavericks finished tied for second in the RMAC Preseason Coaches' Poll, receiving 125 points and three out of 13 first-place votes.

The Mavs were even on points with the University of Colorado-Colorado Springs, who received a conference-high five first-place votes, while Colorado School of Mines edged out both schools to finish first in the poll while also receiving three first-place votes.

Coach's Corner
Mavericks head coach Megan Remec is entering her third season at the helm of the CMU program. 

In her debut campaign, played in spring 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Remec led the Mavericks to a winning 5-4-1 record and to the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Tournament for the first time since 2017.

In her first full season in fall 2021, CMU finished 14-4 with a 10-2 RMAC record, winning the program's first regular-season RMAC title since 2000. At the conclusion of the 2021 season, Remec was named the RMAC Coach of the Year, becoming just the second individual Colorado Mesa coach to win that honor and the first since that same 2000 season.

Prior to CMU, Remec spent five seasons as an assistant coach at RMAC rival MSU Denver and was also an assistant coach at Elmhurst College (Division III) in Illinois.