GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. – Senior day couldn't have gone much better for the Colorado Mesa women's soccer team.

The Mavs piled in eight goals, the sixth-highest single game total in program history and the highest since 2000, and dominated from start to finish in an 8-0 win over New Mexico Highlands. The win takes CMU to 9-7-1 overall and 7-4 in the RMAC with one game left in the regular season.

Highlights included Lila Dere scoring a hat trick in just a half-hour to set the new single-season CMU goalscoring record, Addie Randel accumulating four points and Summer Mock scoring her first career goal on her Senior Day. The Mavericks were in control from start to finish, outshooting the Cowgirls 29-9 and peppering the opposing net with 15 shots on target.

Mikayla Eccher got things off to a great start by scoring just three minutes into the match before Dere took over, scoring in the 16^th, 27^th and 31^st minutes. Dere now has a staggering 22 goals this season, leading Division II. With her third and final goal of the match, Dere broke Tiffany Thompson's single-season goalscoring record of 21 goals set in 1998. That was the final record of Thompson's left to fall, as Dere already broke Thompson's career goalscoring and points records earlier this year.

The Cowgirls gambled defensively by playing a drastically high line throughout the match, hoping to prevent the Mavericks' high-octane offense from playing direct through balls. It worked quite often, as CMU was whistled for offsides an incredible 11 times, but it also provided the Mavs with several breakaways that they finished. Freshman goalkeeper Isabella Ortiz did manage seven saves for Highlands but was hung out to dry on several one-on-one opportunities among the eight goals she conceded.

Addie Randel added the Mavs' fifth after some fantastic one-touch passing from Evelyn Hammer to Tatum Pfalmer worked the ball into Randel, who found herself with no one between her and Ortiz and got enough of a touch to leak the ball past the goalkeeper. Hammer added a goal of her own off another assist from Pfalmer to make it 6-0 after just 38 minutes.

The Mavs were able to play the second half on cruise control. The Mavericks made a goalie change at halftime, giving freshman Ella Harrison experience in favor of starter Chloe Dody. Dody made four saves in the first half while Harrison had one save in the second half of the combined shutout.

In all, 27 Mavericks saw playing time, with no player logging more than 75 minutes and only three players topping 65. Dere was prolific in limited action, logging eight shots with four shots on goal and the hat trick in just 47 minutes. Mira Houck (27 minutes), Haley Klasner (27 minutes), Sophia Beames (29 minutes) and Ally Wachtel (45 minutes) are some of the lineup mainstays who got to take the majority of the night off.

Colorado Mesa's six outgoing seniors figured heavily into the playing time and biggest moments of the second half. Michaela Dangler played 71 minutes, the most for her since the season-opening match at Saint Martin's, and assisted along with Randel on CMU's seventh goal scored by Talea Kuennen in the 53^rd minute. Dangler made the play happen by slipping a perfect pass through to Randel, who could've taken the shot herself but alertly passed across goal to give Kuennen a tap-in.

Summer Mock, a forward who had only appeared in 14 minutes across two matches in her career prior to tonight, got to play 22 minutes on her senior day and managed to score CMU's eighth for a storybook ending to her Maverick career. Fellow senior Bobbie Golik provided the assist from a corner kick in the 80^th minute.

Four of the Mavs' six seniors scored a point in what will likely be their final home game: Mock, Dangler, Golik and Olivia Pietro, who assisted on Eccher's opening goal. The other two seniors honored pregame were Jacqueline Linn, who played 41 minutes and had a shot attempt skim just over the bar in the waning moments of the match, and Stella Bohlender, this season's primary left back who logged 70 minutes for the Mavs.

Beyond senior day, the Mavericks improved to 21 points in the conference standings. They are tied with MSU Denver in points for the fifth seed in the RMAC but are behind the Roadrunners thanks to MSU having the head-to-head tiebreaker. The Mavericks are assured of a spot in the eight-team postseason RMAC Tournament, but thanks to Westminster's 2-0 win over Adams State today, there is no possibility for the Mavericks to improve to a top-four seed that would allow them to host a first-round game.

The final game of the regular season is against Westminster at home on Wednesday at 6 p.m. The Mavs will look to defeat the Griffins and scoreboard-watch MSU Denver's match against Black Hills State to see if they will be the No. 5 or No. 6 seed for the RMAC Tournament, which begins on October 30.