GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. – The Colorado Mesa women's soccer season came to an end in the RMAC quarterfinals as two first-half strikes led third-seeded Regis to a 2-1 victory over the sixth-seeded Mavericks.

A Lila Dere penalty-kick goal with 34 seconds left prevented the Mavericks from getting shut out, but Regis goalkeeper Katelyn Martin made eight saves in 90 minutes to lead the Rangers to a victory that sees them advance to the semi-finals of the conference tournament.

Regis got an immediate impact from a pair of substitute strikers. Senior forward Kelby Kuo, who entered the match as Regis' joint-leading scorer with six goals, came onto the pitch in the 23^rd minute and scored just six minutes later on a thunderous header. Sophomore Alex Baer worked around a defender and lofted a cross from near the right end-line. Kuo leaped high above the defense and headed the ball straight down and past goalkeeper Chloe Dody on a bounce.

Regis also made a move to bring on freshman forward Natalie Bunch in the 27^th minute, and she immediately got herself in dangerous attacking positions. Bunch had two shots blocked before the 39^th minute, when another Kuo header on a corner kick was cleared off the line by the CMU defense, but Bunch was the first to the loose ball and punched in the rebound to make it 2-0.

Maverick goalkeeper Chloe Dody made two saves against the two goals conceded in the opening 45 minutes before being replaced by Ella Harrison for the second half, who made one save.

The Mavs put the majority of the pressure on in the second half, outshooting the Rangers 13-6 with a 5-1 advantage in shots on goal. But Martin, who leads the RMAC with an .841 save percentage and ranks second with 90 saves, shined throughout the match.

Lila Dere and Mikayla Eccher each had three shots on goal for CMU, with seven and six total shots, respectively. Addie Randel, Haley Klasner and Kylie Wells each had one shot on goal.

The Mavericks finally broke through in the match's final seconds when Dere was fouled from behind in the box chasing down a ball over the top. Dere stepped up to take her own spot kick and placed it perfectly in the bottom left corner to cut the deficit in half, albeit with only half a minute left to play.

The late strike means Dere will finish the 2022 season with 23 goals – a CMU record. With 23 goals and two assists, Dere finishes the year with 48 points, passing Tiffany Thompson's old single-second record of 47 quite literally at the buzzer. She also broke her own single-season shots record, finishing with 117 after entering the match tied for the old record at 110.

Dere leads the nation in goals, shots and shots on goal. Her success is especially dominant at the conference level, where the redshirt sophomore has 10 more goals, 21 more points, 53 more shots and 30 more shots on goal than anyone else in the RMAC.

With the loss, the Mavs finish the year at 10-8-1 overall. They put up an 8-4 record in conference play (today's loss does not count in the conference standings). The Mavericks were an impressive 7-1 at home but were less proficient in winning on the road, managing a 3-7-1 record away from Grand Junction.

CMU's 2022 record falls short of its 14-4 mark in 2021 but is still just the second 10-win season in the past decade for the program. More Mavericks will receive recognition when the RMAC's All-Academic and All-Conference teams are released next week.