GRAND JUNCTION, Colo.— Colorado Mesa women's lacrosse went 2-0 on a road trip, including its final trip to the Front Range of the regular season.  

After needing two clutch late goals to edge past Fort Lewis 10-8, CMU kept on the throttle throughout a 19-1 win over CSU Pueblo, racing out to a 12-0 halftime lead and closing the game on a 7-0 run.

With three conference games left to play, the Mavericks are 6-1 in RMAC play and still have a chance to clinch the first regular season title in program history but will need a historic win over No. 3 Regis this Sunday to keep that hope alive. Regardless of the Regis result, the Mavs would clinch no worse than a top-two finish if they beat UCCS on Friday, which would be the third straight top-two finish for the program.

Looking Back
Last week was the first time seeing the Mavericks play RMAC opponents for a second time this season. After a closer-than-expected win against Fort Lewis, Colorado Mesa left nothing to chance against CSU Pueblo, recording its best defensive performance and largest margin of victory of 2023 against the ThunderWolves last Sunday.  
 
RECAP: Fort Lewis | CSU Pueblo

The Fort Lewis game was a tale of two halves as the two teams combined for 13 goals in the first half and just five after halftime. CMU spread the wealth offensively as nine different Mavericks combined to score 10 goals. Although the Mavs defeated FLC 19-7 in this year's first meeting, the game was tied 8-8 with five minutes to go before Justine Anderson and Melanie Evans scored, with Taylor Jakeman assisting on both goals, to edge the Mavs ahead.

The Mavericks scored six goals while shutting out CSU Pueblo in each of the opening two quarters on the way to a dominant 19-1 victory. The Mavs had a 23-7 advantage in shots on goal and forced CSU Pueblo to fail 11 out of 23 clear attempts.

The Kiley Show
Kiley Davis had a quiet week by her lofty standards. She scored two points in each win, under her season average of 4.17 per game. But with her three goals and four points last week, Davis remains the conference's top scorer as the season enters the home stretch.

Davis has 41 goals and nine assists for 50 points so far this season. She has a five-goal lead over Regis's Bailey Truex for the most goals in the RMAC and a four-point lead over Regis's Lucy Johnson to pace that category. Davis averages 3.42 goals and 4.17 points per game, both figures which lead the RMAC. She is the only Maverick that ranks in the per-game top 10 in the conference.

Davis has a record of producing against this week's opponents, as well. She tallied a goal and two assists against Regis, then exploded for five goals against UCCS back on April 6 and 8. That five-goal performance is tied with CMU's previous home game against Westminster on April 1 for Davis's most goals scored in an RMAC game this year. Davis also scored a career-high seven goals in a nonconference game against Rockhurst on March 14.

Davis now ranks 10^th on CMU's single-season goalscoring list with 41. She needs six goals to reach the top five, which would also tie her own career high that she achieved last season. On the Mavs' career leaderboards, Davis ranks fifth all-time with 150 points and fourth all-time with 121 goals.

DPOW
Shannon Murphy led a stellar defensive effort and, in the process, earned her first career RMAC Defensive Player of the Week award.

Murphy made a total of 16 saves against Fort Lewis and CSU Pueblo in last week's action. She made 10 saves against eight goals conceded in CMU's 10-8 win over Fort Lewis on Friday, recording double-digit saves and an over .500 save percentage for the fourth time this season.

Murphy was even better against CSU Pueblo, allowing just one goal, a career-low for games where Murphy played in all four quarters. She made six saves for an .857 save percentage, likewise a career best for a complete game.

The Maverick goalie currently ranks third in the RMAC with a 10.14 goals-against average and 91 total saves. Her tally of 7.6 saves per game is good for fourth in the conference, and her overall save percentage of .429 is fifth.

Mach 8
Caroline Ohngemach had a breakout game against CSU Pueblo. The sophomore from Wayne, N.J. netted four times against the ThunderWolves, doubling her season total to eight goals in the process. Ohngemach added two assists to set a career high in points (six) as well as in goals.

Ohngemach scored on all four of her shots on goal last Sunday and scored three of CMU's final five goals of the match. Having played in all 12 games off the bench for CMU, Ohngemach has eight goals and seven assists this season, in addition to six ground balls.

Senior Day
Sunday's upcoming game against No. 3 Regis will also be senior day. The Mavericks will honor eight outgoing players – Brianna Anderson, Kiley Davis, Erika Farrage, Taylor Jakeman, Regan Wentz, Kelsey Viger, Melanie Evans and Xcaret Salvador – with a pregame ceremony.

This decorated group of outgoing players includes three of CMU's top five scorers this season (Davis, Jakeman and Wentz), the current conference leader in caused turnovers (Viger), two 100-point career scorers (Davis and Evans) and one of just four 100-goal scorers in program history (Davis).  

Entering this week's games, this group of graduating players has accumulated a 23-4 record in RMAC conference play, notched back-to-back RMAC regular season runner-up finishes (with a chance to have a third clinched by Sunday) and back-to-back appearances in the RMAC Tournament final.

About Regis
Well established as the class of the RMAC and a consistent contender in the Midwest region, Regis has made five straight NCAA Tournament appearances, swept the last three RMAC regular season and tournament crowns and reached the Final Four of the NCAA Tournament in 2018 and 2019.

The Rangers are dominant once again this season. They are ranked No. 4 nationally in the latest IWLCA poll from April 17 and have a 12-0 record featuring ranked wins over then-No. 15 Lynn, then-No. 10 Grand Valley State and the University of Indianapolis, who were ranked No. 1 in the nation at the time they lost to Regis and are currently ranked No. 6.

In the RMAC portion of the schedule, Regis's 17-11 win over Colorado Mesa has been the smallest margin of victory for the Rangers in their six conference wins. Regis is averaging 18.7 goals per game during the RMAC season and allowing an average of just six goals per game to RMAC opponents.

Regis is winning with both quality and depth. While Colorado Mesa boasts the RMAC's leading points scorer in Kiley Davis, Regis has seven players with more points than CMU's second-leading scorer. The Rangers attack is led by graduate midfielder Lucy Johnson with 46 points and senior Bailey Truex with 43 points. Johnson and Truex rank second and third in the RMAC to Davis in points scored this season. Truex ranks second behind Davis with 36 goals, while Johnson's 33 goals are fourth in the conference.

Gabby Rothermund leads the RMAC in assists with 21 and ranks third on the team with 34 total points. Regis has scored 200 total goals as a team, 35 more than second-place CMU, and they have conceded just 87 goals, 18 less than second-place Westminster. Primary goalie Brigit Goetsch has shined with an 8.82 goals-against average and a .453 save percentage in 510 minutes while understudy Elizabeth Myotte has been impressive in 210 minutes of work, posting a league-best .538 save percentage with 14 saves against 12 goals conceded for a 3.43 GAA.

Colorado Mesa has never beaten Regis in 28 attempts, a sign of the Rangers' hold on the conference despite CMU having six consecutive top-three finishes in the RMAC. The Mavericks have lost to Regis more than any other school in program history by a substantial margin over now-Division I Lindenwood (17 losses in 18 games) and Fort Lewis (11 losses in 21 games). Regis is also the only school in conference or nonconference play that CMU has failed to beat having played more than three times.

The most notable loss was during CMU's only NCAA Tournament appearance to date in 2019, as after the Mavericks upset No. 8 Lindenwood in their first NCAA Tournament game, second-ranked Regis bounced CMU in the NCAA Quarterfinals 16-14 to ensure the Rangers' second straight Final Four appearance. The 0-27 streak also includes the past two RMAC Tournament finals and semifinal losses in 2016, 2017 and 2018.

That 2018 postseason game was the closest the Mavs have ever come to a win over Regis, as the Mavericks tied the game with 25 seconds left but fell 11-10 in overtime. Last season, Regis beat the Mavericks 17-10 in Denver and 15-8 in Grand Junction before repeating that 15-8 margin in the RMAC Tournament final.

About UCCS
UCCS is 4-8 overall and currently sits in third in the conference standings with a 3-3 RMAC record. The Mountain Lions have recorded wins over Fort Lewis, CSU Pueblo and Westminster while losing to Regis (twice) and CMU.

Junior midfielder Julia Patrick is a two-time RMAC Offensive Player of the Week, is tied for fourth in the RMAC with 41 total points and leads UCCS with 33 goals. Freshman Brielle Fannin ranks third in the RMAC with 16 assists and has also added 24 goals to be just behind Patrick with 40 points. In CMU's 15-7 win over UCCS earlier this season, Fannin was the only Mountain Lion to score multiple times.
Redshirt junior goalie Madison McGriff leads the conference with 135 saves and ranks third with a .440 save percentage. UCCS has allowed 172 goals this season, second-most in the conference behind CSU Pueblo. The Mountain Lions have given up 15 or more goals in all but one of their losses.

UCCS has had a boom or bust offensive attack. Pay attention to the scoreboard against the Mountain Lions, because if a team can keep UCCS in single digits, that team is usually in good shape. The team is 0-8 when scoring fewer than 10 goals, but 4-0 when scoring in double digits with scorelines of 16, 17, 20 and 23 goals. The Mountain Lions don't have a single game in which they finished with between 11-15 goals, an area the Mavericks have landed in three times, including in two losses.

Colorado Mesa currently has a perfect 8-0 record all-time against UCCS. The games have gotten more competitive in recent years, however, as CMU went from winning the first meeting 22-2 to not winning by more than four goals in a four-game span from 2019-2022.

In the Polls
Colorado Mesa i Mavericks are 0-5 this season against ranked teams, falling to No. 4 Regis, No. 5 Florida Southern, No. 8 Rollins, No. 15 Grand Valley State and No. 22 Saint Leo.

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.