GRAND JUNCTION, Colo.—The Colorado Mesa University women's lacrosse squad will kick off their 2023 season with a challenging and important NCAA Division II Midwest Region game, when they Grand Valley State University in a battle of nationally-ranked squads on Friday after at 4 p.m. here at the Community Hospital Unity Field.
 
The Mavericks, currently ranked 24^th nationally, were able to eventually qualify for the 2019 NCAA Division II Tournament after up-ending the Lakers in the only previous meeting between the teams.
 
This year's GVSU squad, ranked tenth in Monday's ILWomen/IWLCA Division II Poll, is currently 1-1.  The Lakers will also take on No. 8 Regis (3-0) in a neutral-site contest that the Mavericks will host on Sunday at 11 a.m.
 
A live stream of both games can be found on the RMAC Network and live statistics can be accessed at the links above.
 
A look back to 2022
 
The Mavericks finished another successful season in 2022, going 12-6 overall record and 10-2 in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference standings, including a forfeit win that was counted only in the conference standings and not in the overall record.
 
All six losses came to teams ranked in the nation's top 10 as the Mavericks reached the RMAC Tournament Championship game for the second straight year, falling to nemesis Regis, ranked third in the country at the time.
 
Meanwhile, the Mavericks finished second in the RMAC's regular season standings behind only Regis, sweeping their other five RMAC opponents while also claiming non-conference wins over McKendree and Saint Leo, receiving votes in the national poll at the time.
 
They placed 12 team members on the All-RMAC slate, including first team picks Taylor Jakeman, Ali Bryant, Ashton Whittle and Kelsey Viger, three of whom return in 2023.  The Mavs return nine of the 12 overall all-conference selections this season.
 
Kiley Davis was also named to the IWLCA All-Midwest Region Second Team for the second straight year after receiving an All-RMAC snub as an honorable mention selection despite finishing second in the entire RMAC for goals and tied for fourth for total points.
 
Bryant was also named as the RMAC Freshman of the Year.
 
Returning Firepower
 
The Mavericks return seven of their top eight goal scorers from a year ago.
 
Kiley Davis scored 47 goals and 60 total points (13 assists) last season in one of the most explosive individual seasons in CMU history.  Her goal total was equal to the third highest single-season total in Maverick lore while her point total was the fifth highest and came on the heels of a 33-goal, 40-point redshirt freshman season in 2021 after transferring from Division I Coastal Carolina, where she played in the 2020 pandemic effected season.
 
Meanwhile, Taylor Jakeman scored 37 goals last year as a redshirt freshman.  Veteran Regan Wentz, a fourth-year redshirt junior also returns after a strong season, which saw her score 29 goals, eight more than she had in a shorter 2021 campaign.
 
Meanwhile, Melanie Evans (19), Brianna Anderson (18) and Caroline Ohngemach (14) also return after double-digit scoring seasons from last year.  Evans also led the squad in assists with 35 last year and was second behind Davis in total points with 55, the ninth highest total in program history and sixth highest mark in last year's RMAC statistics.
 
The only double-digit scorer that does not return in 2023 is Ashton Whittle, who netted 26 goals before graduating last year.
 
The Mavs scored 256 goals as a team last year, ranking second in the RMAC for total goals and third for goals per game (14.22).
 
Defense is Key
 
The Mavericks also had a solid defense in 2022 and return three of their four All-RMAC defenders from a year ago.  The Mavs conceded just 180 goals last year, an average of 10.00 per game and ranked second in the RMAC for goals allowed per game and in scoring margin (4.2).  They were also ranked 21^st nationally for goals allowed per game and finished second in the RMAC for ground balls (374), caused turnovers (208) and draw controls (283), trailing only Regis in all three categories.
 
Kelsey Viger earned First Team All-RMAC honors at defense last year and was a second team pick in 2021.  Larkin Daly and Taylor Scott also return as Honorable Mention All-RMAC defenders from last year although the Mavs will have to replace 2022 second team pick Elizabeth Posavad following her graduation.
 
Viger led the RMAC with 44 ground balls last season and was second in the conference with 26 caused turnovers.  Both figures were the fourth highest totals in CMU history.  Scott finished with 26 ground balls and 11 caused turnovers while Daly tallied 18 ground balls and seven caused turnovers. 
 
The Mavs held their opponents to single-digit goal totals in seven different games last year, pitching a shutout against Adams State (Mar. 4) and a pair of other 1- goal defensive efforts.  They went 7-0 in those games and were 11-0 when holding their opponents to 13 or fewer goals.  Conversely, they were just 1-6 when giving up 15 or more.
 
In the Polls
 
The Mavericks were unsurprisingly picked second in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Preseason Coaches' Poll, receiving 20 points and one first place vote.  Only Regis, which garnered the other five first place votes, was picked ahead of the Mavs.  The Rangers had 25 points.  UCCS (18), Fort Lewis (11), Westminster (11) and CSU Pueblo (5) were picked behind the Mavericks in the now 6-team RMAC following the discontinuation of the sport by Adams State.
 
The Mavs were also slotted 22^nd in the ILWomen/IWCLA Preseason Poll but slipped slightly to No. 24 in the Week No. 1 and No. 2 polls and will be the last of the 25 teams currently ranked to open the season when they take on the Lakers, who were fifth in the preseason poll and tenth in both of the last two polls, released on Mondays (Feb. 20 and 27).
 
East Stroudsburg has retained the No. 1 spot of the national poll with 714 points and 21 of the 29 first place votes in the most recent balloting.
 
The Mavs are the fourth of four Midwest Regional teams in the Top 25 joining No. 7 Indianapolis, No. 8 Regis and No. 10 Grand Valley State.  Four teams from the region, made up of 31 championship eligible teams from five different conferences,  will be picked at-large for the 16-team NCAA Division II Championship Tournament, which is divided into four 4-team regions for the opening rounds.
 
Two other Mountain East Conference from the state of West Virginia in Charleston and Davis & Elkins are receiving votes in the IWLCA poll.
 
Tough road
 
Four of the Mavs' five non-conference games plus two of their conference affairs on this year's schedule are against teams currently inside the top 20 of the national poll.  Five of those six games are against teams currently inside the top 10 including Friday's encounter.
 
The Mavericks are also slated to play at No. 20 Saint Leo, No. 9 Rollins and No. 3 Florida Southern, in a span of five days in Florida from Mar. 21-25 and will be Regis, ranked eighth, both home and away plus possibly for a third time in the RMAC Tournament.  The Mavs play at Regis on Apr. 6 and will play their final home game of the regular season against the Rangers on Apr. 23.
 
In Charge
 
Shannon McHale is entering her third season as the Mavs' Head Coach.  The Mavericks have posted a combined 20-11 (.645) record in her two previous seasons and have a 17-3 (.850) RMAC record, including two forfeit wins under her direction  The Mavs have finished second in the RMAC standings in both years of McHale's tenure, their highest ever finish, and have reached the RMAC Tournament final in both years as well.
 
McHale came to CMU after serving as an assistant at Florida Southern for three years (2018-20), helping the Mocs to 18 straight wins and the 2018 national title game.  She has been a head coach for 22 seasons, compiling a 185-152-1 overall record including stops at three Division III schools in her native New York (Ithaca, St. John Fisher and SUNY Potsdam).  Her 185 career wins are the sixth most of any current active NCAA Division II Head Coach.
 
McHale also served as an Assistant Coach for the Swiss National Team at the 2022 World Championships last summer and is a member of the NCAA Division II Women's Lacrosse Committee.
 
Speaking of the World Championships
 
Maverick freshman Ella Freemon played at the World Championships for her native New Zealand and scored three goals for the Kiwis, who won Pool D before going on to finish 12^th with a 5-3 overall record at last summer's tournament in Townson, Maryland.  Freemon hails from the nation's largest city of Auckland while Jakeman, in her fourth season with the Mavs, is from the capital city of Wellington, the third largest city in New Zealand.
 
New Faces
 
Freemon is one of 11 freshman on this year's roster and joins redshirt junior Taylor Jakeman in giving the Mavs' some international flair.
 
The rest of the freshman class hails from five different stats including Colorado products Justin Anderson (Colorado Springs/Air Academy HS), Sophie Astone (Littleton/Chatfield HS), Sidney Edmonds (Westminster/Holy Family HS), Izzy Whitt (Centennial/Cherry Creek HS).  The Mavs also have four new Californian's in Carson Dickey (Murietta/Murietta Mesa HS), Olivia Turk (El Dorado Hills/Oak Ridge HS) and Davis High School teammates Stella Cardenas and Devon Morris.
 
St. Peters, Mo. (Fort Zumwalt South HS) Native Cameron Flynn and Lake Oswego, Oregon product Courtney Havel also join the Maverick squad this year.
 
No True Seniors
 
The Mavs will enter the 2023 without any true seniors although the Mavs have seven fourth-year redshirt juniors, many of whom may forgot a potential fifth season of eligibility available thanks to the NCAA's blanket COVID eligibility waiver, granted to spring sport athletes in 2020, after a majority of that season was canceled.
 
Century Club
 
Kiley Davis became the tenth Maverick to score 100 career points when she scored the last of her career-high matching five goals in the RMAC Tournament semifinal win over UCCS.  Davis has 80 career goals, the seventh most in CMU history, in just two seasons and 31 games as a Mav.
 
Teammate Melanie Evans will begin the 2023 campaign just five points away from joining Davis in the elite century club and has recorded 41 goals and 54 assists in her three seasons at 34 games at CMU.  She ranks fourth in career assists entering the 2023 campaign.
 
About the Lakers
 
The Lakers, who hail from Allendale, Michigan, are 1-1 on the young season, splitting their opening trip to Florida, defeating Flagler 14-12 before falling to Rollins 15-11. Maddy Champagne had a strong start to the season, as she won GLIAC Offensive Player of the Week after scoring eight goals and dishing out two assists in the opening weekend. She also picked up 10 groundballs and caused two turnovers. Kate DeYoung scored six times and added three assists in the opening weekend, while Sydney Stone and Maggie Hammer each found the back of the net three times. Molly Bursinger and Ashleigh Rothe both scored twice, while Hailey Crittenden netted one goal. Kaylyn Cater started in net both games, saving 16 shots, including a career-high 11 against Rollins.
 
Last year's Laker squad was the best in the program's history.  They went 19-2 and won the GLIAC (Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference) regular season and tournament titles before advancing to the Midwest Regional championship game.
 
They have five Preseason All-Americans by USA Lacrosse Magazine in Bursinger, Aislynn Alkire, Audrey Maloney, Hammer and Shae Strehl.    Kate DeYoung, Champagne, Karlie Rothe and Ashleigh Rothe also return after earning All-GLIAC honors last season.
 
Series History
 
The Mavs claimed a 14-11 win over GVSU in the only previous match-up between the teams on Mar. 5, 2019.  That game was also played in Grand Junction.  The victory helped propel the Mavericks to a 15-4 overall record and their first and so far only NCAA Tournament appearance.  That tournament selection was largely due to the head-to-head win over the Lakers, who went 14-4 that season.
 
Home Fortress
 
The Mavericks have posted an impressive 27-5 home record in their last 32 home games dating back to Mar. 16, 2017.  The only two teams to have defeated the Mavericks at the CHUF (Community Hospital Unity Field) in that span are Regis and Lindenwood, now in the NCAA Division I ranks, teams that have combined to win all eight of the previous RMAC Regular Season and all eight of the RMAC Tournament titles since the conference first sponsored the sport in 2014.
 
Up Next
 
After Friday's game and watching Sunday's top-10 tilt, the Mavericks will remain at home for their next three games, including their RMAC openers against Fort Lewis and CSU Pueblo on the following weekend (Mar. 10 & 12).
 
The Mavs will play their first four games of the season at home but will have just one of their following eight at home.