COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Shannon Murphy stood tall in net and Kiley Davis returned to form in front of it as Colorado Mesa women's lacrosse bounced back from its first conference loss on Thursday to beat UCCS 15-7 and break a tie for second place in the conference standings with the Mountain Lions.
Murphy made 10 saves, her third game in double digits this season, while recording a .588 save percentage, a season high. Just a game after being held to her lowest scoring output of the season with one goal against Regis, Davis rebounded with a game-high five goals on seven shots. Justine Anderson also added a hat trick while Brielle Fannin scored twice for UCCS to be the only Mountain Lion with multiple goals.
The Mountain Lions kept pace for the first two quarters but CMU turned on the jets in the second half, outscoring UCCS 8-2 after halftime to turn a two-goal lead at the break into the eight-goal margin of victory.
The win moves CMU back even at 5-5 overall with a strong 4-1 record after the first half of the conference season. UCCS fell to 4-7 overall and 3-2 in the RMAC.
Peyton Ivey, Justine Anderson and Taylor Jakeman scored in a three-minute span halfway through the first quarter to give CMU a 3-2 advantage after one period. After UCCS tied the game at 3, Anderson scored her second to give the Mavs the edge again and Davis delivered a personal hat trick, scoring three consecutive Maverick goals sandwiched around two UCCS goals. Davis punctuated the second quarter with a woman-up goal with 29 seconds left off an assist from Caroline Ohngemach to put the Mavericks up 7-5 entering halftime.
An ensemble cast got the job done in the third quarter, as the Mavericks raced out to a 13-6 advantage behind six goals from six different players. After Regan Wentz scored from Ali Bryant to put the Mavs on the board in the second half, Melanie Evans found the net with 10:25 left to make it 10-5. Not only was it the redshirt junior's first goal in six games, but it was also Evans' 101st career point, launching her fully over the century mark after reaching 100 with an assist in the second quarter against Regis.
Taylor Jakeman, Courtney Havel, Anderson and Davis also scored in the third, with Evans picking up another point by assisting on Anderson's goal. Davis made it five on the night and 38 on the season with a woman-up goal with 9:35 to play before Wentz scored 50 seconds later to give CMU its largest lead of the night at 15-6. Mountain Lions attacker Julia Patrick, who entered the game second to Davis in the RMAC in goals, pulled one back for just her first of the game to make it a 15-7 final.
The Mavs will take the extra day of rest from the Easter holiday weekend before they go on the road next Friday and Sunday, facing Fort Lewis on April 14 and CSU Pueblo on April 16. Those two games are currently at the bottom of the conference and have a combined RMAC record of 1-9, with the win coming when Fort Lewis beat CSU Pueblo 17-9 on Friday.
