DENVER, Colo. – Colorado Mesa women's lacrosse could not replicate its magic from the last regular season meeting with Regis, losing 12-4 to the top-seeded Rangers in the championship game of the RMAC Tournament.
It is the fourth straight RMAC Tournament championship for national No. 7 Regis, and the third straight time Regis has beaten Colorado Mesa in the final. It brings a familiar yet disappointing end to a historic Colorado Mesa season in which they beat Regis for the first time in 28 attempts and achieved a share of the conference regular season title for the first time in program history.
Kiley Davis led the offensive performance for CMU with two goals in the final and six for the tournament. Davis was named to the 11-player All-Tournament team alongside fellow Mavs
Ali Bryant,
Kelsey Viger and
Emme Rezoski.
After Regis took an early 2-0 lead in the game's opening three minutes, CMU got right back in the game with goals from
Regan Wentz, with an assist from
Taylor Jakeman, and
Kiley Davis to tie the game at 2-2. Meg Hanson put Regis ahead 3-2 with a goal a minute later, but the two teams held one another scoreless for the first quarter's final 7:22 to keep the score there after 15 completed minutes.
Regis began to take control with a run of three straight goals throughout the first half of period two. Although Davis halted the run with her second goal with 3:12 to play, Regis answered back with a goal from RMAC Attacker of the Year Lucy Johnson to give the Rangers a 7-3 lead heading into the break.
From there, Regis's defense simply clamped down on the Mavericks, holding CMU to just one goal in the second half. Goalie Brigit Goetsch made eight saves, four in each half, while the Mavericks only managed seven total shots and five on goal after halftime. Colorado Mesa made 24 turnovers compared to 18 for Regis.
The Mavericks did hold a slight draw control edge for the game at 11-9, but Regis won the battle 5-3 in the second half. The Mavs' 8-4 first-half draw control advantage was negated in part by 14 first-half turnovers.
The next move for Colorado Mesa is waiting for Sunday evening's NCAA Tournament selection show (6:30 p.m. MT on NCAA.com). The Mavericks entered the week fifth in the regional rankings with the top four teams making it, so the Mavs are not expected to receive a bid without the RMAC title under their belts.
At the conclusion of the RMAC tournament, the Mavericks are 11-6 overall after going 9-1 during the RMAC regular season. The 2023 CMU season has to be considered a success, with the program's first co-regular season title and third consecutive trip to the RMAC Tournament finals.
