GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. – After a dominating win to open conference play, the Colorado Mesa women's soccer team will play their first two home conference games this weekend at Community Hospital Unity Field.

The Mavs got their RMAC season off to a perfect start with a 6-0 victory over Black Hills State last Saturday, getting five points from star forward Lila Dere.

Up next, the Mavericks face CSU Pueblo at 7 p.m. on Friday and UCCS at 3 p.m. on Sunday. It will be a full weekend for local Maverick fans, as both those matches will be the second half of a doubleheader. The CMU men's team plays the same opponents at 4 p.m. Friday and 12:30 p.m. Sunday.

The clash with UCCS will be a contest between the two teams that tied for the RMAC regular season championship last season, each with 10-2 records.

The games can be streamed live on the RMAC Network and followed via live stats.

Looking Back
In the opening game of the RMAC conference season, Colorado Mesa traveled to Spearfish, S.D. to take on Black Hills State, coming away with a 6-0 victory over the Yellow Jackets.

Lila Dere improved her season total to 10 goals with a pair of strikes while Mira Houck, Addie Randel, Evelyn Hammer and Izzy Sorge also found the net for the Mavs. Haley Klasner had two assists for the Mavericks.  

The Mavericks outshot the Yellow Jackets 16-4, forcing two BHSU goalkeepers to contend with 13 shots on target. Colorado Mesa outshot the Yellow Jackets 11-0 in the second half.

RECAP: Black Hills State

Double-Digit Dere
Lila Dere added her ninth and 10^th goals of the season plus her second assist in the win over BHSU, extending her points-scoring streak to seven games. She can easily claim to be among the most dangerous offensive players in Division II, leading the nation in shots per game (6.43) and shots on goal per game (3.86).

She is tied for third in Division II with her 10 goals and ranks fourth with 22 points, leading the RMAC in both categories.

Dere also holds the current season's Division II single-game highs for shots (13) and shots on goal (nine), both set during her four-goal explosion on September 2 against Nebraska-Kearney. The nine shots on goal tied a career high for Dere.

On The Verge
While her blistering start to this season has her climbing the national leaderboards, Lila Dere is scaling to the top of the CMU career leaderboards, as well. The redshirt sophomore's processional march to the all-time CMU scoring record is entering the final stretch. With two goals last Saturday, Dere moved into sole possession of second place on that list with 32 career goals, passing Lauren Sell (30).

Dere is now four goals away from tying Tiffany Thompson (36) for the all-time lead. Thompson scored her 36 goals in 43 games while Dere is scheduled to suit up for her 36^th and 37^th career games this weekend. Thompson is also the all-time CMU leader in points with 85. Dere ranks tied for third with Sell at 70 career points (one goal = two points, one assist = one point).

Dere entered the season needing 15 goals and 37 points this season to become the program's all-time leader in each category. She has 10 goals and 22 points through seven games in 2022 thus far.

Clamping Down
The Mavericks defense was in top form as well, holding Black Hills State to just four shots overall and one shot on goal for goalkeeper Chloe Dody to save.

Kaydree Rapp turned in another 90-minute performance, keeping alive her streak of appearing in every minute of every game this season. Bobbie Golik, returning to the Mavs' lineup after redshirting last year, has played over 55 minutes in each of the last three games. Freshman Ally Wachtel has started the past six games at center back.

Dream Debut
Izzy Sorge only played 12 minutes late in the Mavs' 6-0 rout last Saturday, but the redshirt sophomore made the most of them, scoring her first college goal.

Sorge played 30 games in two seasons for Division I South Dakota and logged just over 600 minutes with 14 shots and one assist. She transferred to CMU for this fall season and in the 78^th minute of her very first appearance with the Mavs, Sorge found the net with her first shot attempt.

Sorge became the seventh different Maverick to score a goal this season while 12 different Mavs have tallied at least one point. A whopping 29 CMU players have seen game action in the first seven matches of the year.

On the Leaderboards
Colorado Mesa leads the conference with 21 goals and 57 points. They rank second in the RMAC with 15 assists, while ranking in the top 25 nationally in Division II in all three categories.

The Mavericks are taking the fourth-most shots per game in Division II (21.71) and the third-most shots on goal per game (11.43). They rank sixth in Division II in corner kicks per game (7.57).

Lila Dere leads the conference in most offensive categories, including shots (45), shots on goal (27), goals (10) and points (22). Evelyn Hammer ranks second in the RMAC behind Dere in points per game (2.20, 11 points in five games). Haley Klasner is fifth in the RMAC in assists per game (0.43).

In the Polls
Colorado School of Mines is the only RMAC team ranked in the national Top 25, currently sitting at No. 17. Two additional RMAC teams are receiving votes, however: Westminster and Sunday's opponent UCCS.

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.

About CSU Pueblo
Picked sixth in the preseason poll, CSU Pueblo is out to a 2-6 start in the 2022 season. They are 1-1 in RMAC play, defeating Fort Lewis 1-0 last Friday before losing to Western Colorado by a 2-0 score last Sunday.

The ThunderWolves have two common nonconference opponents with the Mavericks, losing to Angelo State and Lubbock Christian each by a 3-1 score. (The Mavericks also lost to Angelo State and drew with Lubbock Christian.)

Junior midfielder Faith Meredith is CSU Pueblo's only multi-goal scorer, leading the team with three goals. Junior Porsche Nieto tallied the game-winning goal in the win over Fort Lewis.

In goal, sophomore Nicole Genis started the first six games, posting a 2.55 goals-against average with 27 saves. But freshman Brianna Encinas has started the last two games for the ThunderWolves, making 10 saves and conceding twice.

Head coach Sierra Cardenas has been in charge since the 2017 season. She guided the ThunderWolves to the program's first RMAC Tournament Championship in the COVID-19-shortened spring 2021 season.

About UCCS
The UCCS Mountain Lions were tied for second with CMU in the RMAC Preseason Coaches Poll. The Mountain Lions had a far easier time than their travel partners last week, defeating Western Colorado 6-0 and Fort Lewis 3-0.

UCCS enters the week with a 5-1-2 record, with the only loss coming against current No. 1 Dallas Baptist. They are currently receiving votes in the national poll but have previously been ranked as high as No. 22 this year.

In recognition of the cumulative 9-0 week, sophomore forward Sydney Lasater was named the RMAC Offensive Player of the Week while Alexis Walker won Goalkeeper of the Week honors.

Lasater is the Mountain Lions' leading points scorer with three goals and six assists, which is tied for the league lead. Lasater and junior forward Jael Larson rank third and fourth, respectively, in the RMAC in total shots. Senior midfielder Fabiola Estrada leads the team with four goals.

Walker has been stellar in net, making 27 saves against five goals conceded for a 0.63 goals-against average.

Head Coach J.B. Belzer is in his third season in command of the Mountain Lions, who found plenty of success in his previous two. UCCS won the regular season RMAC championship in 2020 and tied for the crown with Colorado Mesa in fall 2021, going on to also win the RMAC Tournament that season.

Series Histories
The all-time series between Colorado Mesa and CSU Pueblo is close, with the Mavericks holding a slight 19-17-5 advantage. CMU is 12-5-3 when playing at home against the ThunderWolves.

Things have trended Pueblo's way in recent years, however, with the ThunderWolves winning five of the past six matchups. The past three matches between these two teams have been 1-0 victories for CSU Pueblo.

The Mavericks hold a 9-6-2 lead in the all-time series with UCCS. The Mavericks won last season 3-2 on a game-winning goal by Tatum Pfalmer in the 89^th minute. That victory broke a run of four straight wins for the Mountain Lions, the longest streak for either team in the series.