GRAND JUNCTION, Colo.— Facing the other two teams making up the conference's top three last week, Colorado Mesa women's lacrosse won once and lost once to find itself in a familiar position in the standings as the RMAC season enters the back half.

Entering the week at 3-0 in conference play, the Mavericks lost to No. 3 Regis to fall out of a tie for first place but rebounded to defeat UCCS to break a subsequent tie for second place in the RMAC at 4-1 in conference. CMU's current standing of second matches the Mavs' projected 2023 preseason finish and their finishing position from the past two completed seasons. The Mavericks are 5-5 overall.

With five conference games left to play, one against every conference opponent, the Mavs begin the second half of the schedule with a road trip to face the RMAC's current bottom two teams in Fort Lewis and CSU Pueblo. The Mavericks will face Fort Lewis on Friday at 3 p.m. and CSU Pueblo on Sunday at 3 p.m.

Looking Back
Colorado Mesa maintained some historical streaks, losing against Regis to drop to 0-28 all-time against the Rangers and defeating UCCS to climb to 8-0 all-time against the Mountain Lions. Additionally, those results made it 29 consecutive wins against unranked teams and 18 consecutive losses to ranked opponents for the Maverick program.   
 
RECAP: No. 3 Regis | UCCS

Carson Dickey and Taylor Jakeman tallied hat tricks in the 17-11 losing effort against Regis. Kiley Davis was held to a season-low of just one goal against the Rangers but rebounded to score a game-high five against UCCS on Saturday.

100 Club
After being stuck on 99 career points since March 14, Melanie Evans broke through with a three-point weekend to finally top 100 points for her career, becoming the 11^th Maverick to do so.

Evans joins teammate Kiley Davis as current Mavs on the list. The historic moment came late in the first half against Regis when Evans assisted Taylor Jakeman with 42 seconds remaining in the second quarter to complete Jakeman's hat trick. The 100^th point was Evans' 56^th career assist, fourth-most all-time in CMU history.

Two days later against UCCS, Evans scored a goal then added another assist to finish the weekend with 102 career points and counting.

Milestone Watch
With an eight point weekend, redshirt junior midfielder Kiley Davis continued her strong season as she now has a conference-high 38 goals and 46 points. And thanks to her three productive seasons in a Maverick uniform, Davis is steadily building a case as one of the top players in Maverick women's lacrosse history.

With 146 career points, Davis is now in the top five all-time in program history. Among Mavericks, she trails only 2015-18 alum Jessica Cook (225), 2016-19 alum Olivia Hayden (214), 2013-16 alum Ashley Eickhoff (191) and 2011-14 alum Allie Henderson (164). With three points against Regis, Davis passed the previous fifth-place, 2012-16 alum Lexie Chavez, who accumulated 139 points in 58 career games.

With 118 career goals, Davis is fourth place all-time in program history. Davis scored her 100^th career goal on March 21 against Saint Leo, becoming the fourth Maverick to do so and passing Henderson, who finished her career with 99. She trails the same top three of Cook (177), Hayden (168) and Eickhoff (149).

Future is Bright
While veteran contributors such as Davis and Evans continue to be reliable points-scoring options for CMU, a pair of freshmen have emerged as big parts of the Maverick attack.

Justine Anderson, a Colorado Springs native, has six multiple-goal games among her first 10 collegiate outings. She ranks second on the team in both goals (17) and points (25). Anderson scored three times in the win over UCCS for her third career hat trick, as she also tripled up against Fort Lewis and CSU Pueblo, this week's two upcoming opponents.

Murietta, California native Carson Dickey is one of five Mavericks with double-digit goals so far, accumulating 10 goals and five assists. She has been on a scoring tear recently, scoring eight goals in a four-game stretch and tallying at least a point in five consecutive matches entering the weekend.

Lethal Weapons
Several Colorado Mesa players have been exceptional in not only putting shots on goal, but turning on-frame chances into successful scores.

No less than 14 CMU players have a shots-on-goal percentage of .700 or better, meaning over 70 percent of the total shots they take result in either a goal or a save. That number of 14 is two-thirds of the 21 Mavericks who have taken at least one shot this season.

In addition, Melanie Evans and Amber Wennerstrom have the distinction of scoring on every shot on goal so far this season. Evans has four goals on just five shots and is a perfect 4-for-4 when putting the ball on frame. Wennerstrom has only taken four total shots but has converted them into three goals from three shots on goal.

Among players with a larger sample size, Kiley Davis has found the net on 38 of her 50 shots on goal (76 percent), Taylor Jakeman has scored on 15 of 20 SOGs (75 percent) and Carson Dickey has netted 10 out of 12 on-goal attempts (83 percent).

About Fort Lewis
The Fort Lewis Skyhawks are flying high after a 17-9 win over CSU Pueblo gave them their first win of the season, halting a season-opening seven game losing streak. The Skyhawks are 1-4 in conference play and 1-7 overall.

Haley Dostie is the runaway scoring leader for FLC with 27 goals and 30 points. Behind Dostie, no Skyhawk has more than Ellie Martinez's 10 goals. Valerie Gracia leads the way with six assists for a team that has managed just 21 this season.

The all-time series between Colorado Mesa and Fort Lewis has been streaky, to say the least. From the inception of CMU women's lacrosse in 2011 through 2015, Fort Lewis won the first 11 meetings between the teams.

On March 6, 2016, Colorado Mesa defeated FLC for the first time by an 8-6 score and the Mavs have been unstoppable since. CMU has won the past 10 matchups, scoring 15 or more goals in seven of the last eight. With a win Friday, the Mavericks will tie the all-time series at 11-11.

About CSU Pueblo
CSU Pueblo is still searching for its first conference win of 2023. The ThunderWolves are 1-8 overall with a win over Erskine College and 0-5 in RMAC play.

The ThunderWolves are capable of finding the net, averaging 11 goals per game. Unfortunately, CSUP has allowed 154 goals through nine games, over 17 a match. The ThunderWolves have six double-digit scorers, led by Elise Magee with 19. Katie Broom is the team's points leader with 18 goals and 16 assists.

Colorado Mesa has never lost to CSU Pueblo, going a perfect 13-0 all-time against CSUP. The ThunderWolves struggled mightily against Colorado Mesa last season, losing 21-1 in Grand Junction and 18-4 in Pueblo. New interim head coach Taylor Christensen, a former 100-goal scorer with the program, has been in charge since December 2022. The ThunderWolves are a young team this year, with seven rostered freshmen and just three seniors.

In the Polls
Colorado Mesa is in the receiving votes category of the most recent Division II IWLCA Poll from April 10. The Mavericks are 0-5 this season against ranked teams, falling to No. 4 Florida Southern, No. 7 Rollins, No. 17 Grand Valley State and No. 20 Saint Leo. Regis is the only ranked RMAC program all the way up at No. 3.

The Mavericks were 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.

Coach's Corner
Colorado Mesa head coach Shannon McHale is in her third season leading the Mavericks. In both of her first two seasons, CMU finished second in the RMAC regular season standings and advanced to the final of the RMAC Tournament. Through two seasons at CMU, McHale has a 20-11 overall record with a 17-3 mark in conference play.

Prior to CMU, McHale spent three seasons as an assistant coach at Division II powerhouse Florida Southern. In McHale's first season on staff in 2018, the Mocs advanced to the Division II national championship game, the third straight for the program. McHale made head coaching stops at Ithaca College, St. John Fisher College and SUNY Potsdam and compiled a combined record of 165-142 prior to moving on to Florida Southern.

McHale is a 1992 graduate of SUNY Brockport where she was a three-year letter-winner in soccer and first-team all-state in 1990. She was inducted into the institution's Hall of Fame in 1997.