GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. – The Colorado Mesa women's soccer home opener played under the lights at Community Hospital Unity Field quickly turned into the Lila Dere show.

The redshirt sophomore scored four goals, two in each half, lifting CMU to a 4-0 victory over Nebraska-Kearney, the Mavs' first win of the season.

Dere tied her own program record with four goals and eight points, equaling her effort from Oct. 10, 2021 against Regis. She took 13 shots, the second-most in a single game in program history. Dere holds that record as well, firing 16 attempts against Colorado Christian on Oct. 22 of last year.

Dere took complete control of the game early, giving UNK goalie Mackenzie Smith a workout for 90 minutes. Dere had a pair of shots saved by Smith in the 3^rd minute and fired over the bar before breaking the ice in the 12^th minute, as Sophia Beames corralled a rebound from a Dere shot and played through Dere for the forward's third goal of the season.

Dere continued to pummel the Lopers' goal, hitting the crossbar in the 16^th minute before scoring again in the 19^th minute. Dribbling down the left-hand side of the penalty box, Dere got a UNK defender to bite on a shot fake before cutting back inside and firing a right-footed shot into the bottom left corner.

After Dere's second goal, it seemed to be a matter of not if she would get her hat trick, but when. She hit the post in the 26^th minute and forced sprawling saves from Smith in the 27^th and 30^th minutes, ultimately not finding the net again before halftime.

The Mavericks kept their foot on the gas right away in the second half, with Evelyn Hammer getting on the end of a long through ball off the kickoff and forcing a save from Smith just 12 seconds into the second half. Sophia Beames thought she had found the net just a few seconds later, but her goal was called back for offside.

Dere got her third in the 50^th minute, a turn-around shot that settled right underneath the crossbar. She scored again three minutes later, and her fourth goal might have been the best of the bunch.

Dribbling the ball in from a wide area on the right-hand side, Dere cut towards the end line and beat the keeper in the top corner at the near post from a very tight angle. The shot was so shocking that many of Dere's CMU teammates were delayed in celebrating until they realized the ball was in the back of the net rather than behind the goal.

From there, the watch was on to see if Dere could get a fifth goal and break her own program record, but with a large lead, she played sparingly down the stretch, leaving the match for good in the 71^st minute.

With her four goals, Lila Dere is now tied for third place on the all-time CMU goalscoring list with 28 career strikes. Her four goals on the day pushed her past Alisha Phillips and level with Brianna Figal.

While Dere provided most of the fireworks, the Mavericks took 31 shots as a team, putting 15 on target. Dere finished with 13 shots and nine shots on goal, and Mikayla Eccher (four shots, 2 SOG), Haley Klasner (three shots) and Evelyn Hammer (two SOG) were all dangerous throughout the match.
Mavs goalkeeper Chloe Dody, returning to the net after missing the previous game, made five saves, all of which were in the second half. Smith finished with 11 saves in net for the Lopers.

The Mavericks will look to keep firing on all cylinders against Cal State Dominguez Hills on Sunday at 2 p.m. from Community Hospital Unity Field. The Toros drew 1-1 with Western Colorado earlier Friday. Western Colorado will take on Nebraska-Kearney in the early game Sunday, kicking off at 11 a.m.