GRAND JUNCTION, Colo.— Colorado Mesa women's lacrosse will be tied for first place in the RMAC standings for a visit to play the team that's finished first in each of the past three seasons.

After racing out to a 10-0 lead in an 18-7 win over Westminster, the Mavericks are 4-4 overall and 3-0 in conference play. That 3-0 mark is tied at the top of the RMAC standings with Regis, so the Mavericks will place their standings lead on the line in their next match as they travel to play perennial power and nationally third-ranked Rangers (9-0, 3-0 RMAC).

The clash with No. 3 Regis will be Thursday night at 6 p.m., before the Mavs journey on to Colorado Springs to face UCCS on Saturday at 1 p.m. After this week is complete, CMU will be halfway through their conference season and will have played each of its five RMAC opponents one time each.

Looking Back
Colorado Mesa snapped a three-game losing streak in style, defeating local rivals Westminster 18-7 while playing the final three quarters on cruise control after racing out to a 10-0 lead.  
 
RECAP: Westminster

Kiley Davis scored five goals and added an assist to pace the Maverick offense as the Maverick defense held Westminster scoreless for the entirety both the first and the third quarters. With the game well in hand, someone other than Shannon Murphy stepped in the Maverick goal for the first time this season as attacker Brianna Anderson made her debut in net for the final 2:29 of game time.

Hot Start
To say Colorado Mesa was ready to go at the opening whistle against Westminster would be an understatement.

The Mavericks scored on their first seven possessions, kickstarting a 10-goal first quarter that sent CMU out to a double-digit lead through 15 minutes of Saturday's contest. It is the highest-scoring quarter of CMU's season so far.

The 10-goal outburst featured four goals from Kiley Davis and two from Justine Anderson along with single strikes from Regan Wentz, Ali Bryant, Caroline Ohngemach and Peyton Ivey. Wentz, Bryant and Ohngemach would all score later in the match as well, joining Anderson and Amber Wennerstrom to make it five Mavericks with two goals on the day.

Colorado Mesa saw every shot on goal they took ripple the net in the first quarter and outshot the Griffins 13-4 in total over the first 15 minutes. Over the course of the entire game, the Mavs doubled up Westminster in shots on goal, 22-11.

The Maverick defense held Westminster scoreless for the first and third quarters, as it took until 13:44 in the second quarter and 8:02 in the fourth quarter for the Griffins to notch their first goals of each half. It marked the second and third times that the CMU defense held an opponent scoreless for a quarter and first since the Mavs outscored CSU Pueblo 8-0 in the second quarter of their win from March 12. Offensively, the Mavericks have only been kept off the board for an entire quarter once, in the fourth quarter against No. 7 Rollins on March 23.

Milestone Watch
With another six points on Saturday, redshirt junior midfielder Kiley Davis continued her strong season as she now has a conference-high 32 goals and 38 assists. 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 138 career points, Davis is just two points away from cracking the top five in CMU history in that category, as the current fifth-place, 2012-16 alum Lexie Chavez, accumulated 139 points in 58 career games. Farther up the list are 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 112 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).

With 32 goals through eight games played, Davis's average of four goals per game would be the highest per game average in program history if she kept up the pace. With 15 scheduled regular season games plus one guaranteed RMAC tournament game, Davis's current pace of 64 goals would be a single-season program record, edging out Olivia Hayden's total in 62 in 2019 (accomplished in 19 games). The current per-game record is held by Jessica Cook, who scored 59 goals in just 15 games in 2016 for a 3.93 points per game average.

99 Problems
Davis is currently one of 10 Mavericks with over 100 career points, but one of her teammates is on the verge of joining the club. Melanie Evans is just one point away, entering this week's games with 99 career points. Frustratingly, Evans has been stuck on 99 since March 14 as she has been held scoreless over her past four games played while also missing one game.

Evans' decorated and productive career has the Danville, California native in fourth place all-time at CMU with 55 career assists, thanks in large part to her 35 assists in 2022, which is the second-highest single season total in CMU history. Her 44 goals currently have Evans in 17^th on the Mavs career list.

Sharing the Wealth
The Mavericks have excelled at using teamwork to create offensive chances.

The Mavs have assists on 69 of their 110 goals this season, 63 percent of their total scores.

Colorado Mesa's current mark of 8.62 assists per game ranks fifth in all of Division II and leads the RMAC. The Mavericks are scoring assisted goals at a higher clip than much of the country, given that CMU comparatively ranks 34^th in Division II and third in the RMAC with 13.75 goals per game.  

While the Mavs are sharing the wealth to create goals, they are also sharing the wealth in who is recording the assist. Despite being top-five nationally in assists per game as a team, CMU does not have an individual player ranked in the national top 75 in total assists.

Ali Bryant (13) and Peyton Ivey (nine) rank third and fifth, respectively, in the RMAC individually. Overall, seven Maverick players have five assists or more, with the other five being Justine Anderson (seven), Regan Wentz (seven), Kiley Davis (six), Courtney Havel (six) and Taylor Jakeman (five).

Causing Chaos
A key to CMU's ability to pull away in several of their recent years has been the ability to cause turnovers.

Colorado Mesa currently causes 11.38 turnovers per game, which leads the conference and ranks 12^th in Division II. The caused turnover statistic only includes turnovers specifically caused by the Mavericks, such as intercepting a pass or knocking the ball out of an opponent's stick, and doesn't even include unforced errors by the opposition such as throwing a ball out of bounds.

Leading the charge in that category is defensive wizard Kelsey Viger. The redshirt junior has a whopping 21 caused turnovers through eight games, ranking sixth in the nation with her current rate of 2.62 per game. Viger leads the RMAC by a mile, having eight more total caused TOs than any other player and averaging over a turnover per game more than anyone else in the conference with second-place Baylee Mee of CSU Pueblo clocking in at 1.5 per game.

Peyton Ivey has nine caused turnovers for the Mavericks and Taylor Scott, Olivia Turk and Kiley Davis have six apiece.

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.

This season appears to be no different, as the Rangers have risen to No. 3 in the country and have a perfect 9-0 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. Regis has absolutely blitzed through the first three RMAC games on its schedule, topping UCCS 15-7, CSU Pueblo 19-3 and Fort Lewis 18-2.

On the season, Regis is more than doubling the scoring output of its opponents, scoring 140 goals while allowing 63. The Rangers score on 50.4 percent of their shots and place 82 percent of their shots on goal (CMU, by comparison, is at 48 percent and 74 percent with 110 goals scored). The Rangers also limit chances for the opponents, shooting over 100 more times than the opposition through eight games and taking over 30 shots per game while allowing under 19.

A balanced Regis attack features seven players with over 20 points. Senior Bailey Truex ranks third in the RMAC with 24 goals while grad student Lucy Johnson ranks fifth with 22. Truex and Johnson are tied for third in the conference with 29 points each. Lily Ferguson (17 goals), Madeline Schallmoser (16) and Shea Murphy (14) ensure that Regis always has dangerous attackers on the field, while Gabby Rothermund (16 assists) is the team's primary playmaker and leads the conference in assists.

Colorado Mesa has never beaten Regis in 27 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
The Mountain Lions of UCCS (3-6, 2-1 RMAC) began the season 0-5 but have three wins in their past four matches. They are off to a strong start in RMAC play, battling No. 2 Regis in a 15-7 loss before recording wins over Fort Lewis, 16-10, and CSU Pueblo, 23-12. UCCS and CMU have one common nonconference opponent: Rockhurst, who lost to the Mavs 17-7 but defeated this UCCS team 18-7.

Thanks to the 2-0 week in conference last week, UCCS managed to sweep last week's RMAC Player of the Week awards. Junior midfielder Julia Patrick took home the Offensive Player of the Week honors after a monster couple of days in which she recorded a hat trick against Fort Lewis and then tallied seven goals and four assists against Pueblo for a staggering 11 points, which tied a school single-game record and set the conference high for this season so far. In the Mountain Lions' last four games, Patrick has 17 goals and 22 points.

Redshirt junior goalie Madison McGriff won Defensive Player of the Week for the second time this season and sixth time in her career. Patrick and McGriff each have two POTW wins this season, and on both occasions, they have swept the awards in the same week. McGriff accumulated 18 saves and eight ground balls over the two road wins, led by a performance where she made 11 saves for a .524 save percentage in the win over Fort Lewis.

Patrick is the team's leading scorer with 26 goals and six assists, ranking second in the RMAC in goals behind CMU standout Kiley Davis's 32. A pair of freshmen attackers have burst on the scene for UCCS, as Lakeville, Minnesota native Brielle Fannin has 18 goals and 11 assists, which rank fourth in the RMAC, while Pennsylvania native Allie Schell has 11 goals and seven assists thus far. McGriff leads the conference with 11.44 saves per game and ranks third with a .448 save percentage.

Despite McGriff's ability, UCCS has been vulnerable to getting overwhelmed on the defensive end. The Mountain Lions have faced 322 shots while taking just 191 of their own, and they have given up 15 goals or more in five of their six losses. UCCS has typically had a boom or bust offensive attack, as the team has scored five or fewer goals three times but also put up scorelines of 16, 20 and 23 in its wins.

Colorado Mesa currently has a perfect 7-0 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. The most recent meeting between the teams was a 18-11 Mavs win in the 2022 RMAC Tournament semifinal.

In the Polls
Colorado Mesa is in the receiving votes category of the most recent Division II IWLCA Poll from April 3. CMU had the second-most poll votes of any team not to crack the Top 25 rankings, making them the extremely unofficial 27^th-best team nationally. The Mavericks are 0-4 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, who the Mavericks play on Thursday, 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.