GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. – Colorado Mesa women's soccer is off a 3-0 start after a pair of neutral-site wins in Pueblo but face a significant barometer this weekend when two of the Lone Star's top three preseason teams face CMU in Durango on Thursday and Saturday.

Both games will take place on the campus of Fort Lewis University. They can be streamed on the RMAC Network and followed via live stats.

The Mavericks are ranked No. 17 in the nation, a six-spot rise from last week. The Mavs are one of only two RMAC teams in the Top 25 of this week's poll.

Looking Back
CMU's two wins couldn't have looked much different. Against Cal State San Bernardino, the Mavericks started slowly but came alive in the game's final five minutes to snatch a 2-1 victory. Against Newman, the Mavs dominated from start to finish, winning comfortably by a 7-0 margin.

RECAPS: Cal State San Bernardino | Newman

The Mavs relied on two goals just 37 seconds apart from Haley Klasner and Sauvelyne Randel (on a penalty kick) to stun CSUSB 2-1 on Friday. Then, CMU put up four goals in the first half on the way to a 7-0 rout over Newman. Adessa Correa scored twice on Sunday alongside Randel, Isabel Schauber, Madison DeHerrera, Mikayla Eccher and Tatum Pfalmer.

"Keeping" the Award
Keely Wieczorek won her second straight RMAC Goalkeeper of the Week award from the conference office on Tuesday. The true freshman goalie has now won both awards that she has been eligible for in her career.

Wieczorek has already set a program single-season record with her second GOTW award of the season and is tied with teammate Chloe Dody for the career program record since the RMAC began awarding separate Defensive Player and Goalkeeper of the Week awards in 2014.

Player of the Week Release

Wieczorek has made seven saves and conceded just one goal in her three-game collegiate career.

Lopsided Win
Colorado Mesa's seven-goal outburst against Newman was the program's biggest offensive performance since the team scored eight goals on Senior Day against New Mexico Highlands last season.

The team has also put up lopsided goal totals against NAIA schools Rocky Mountain College (10 in 2000, nine in 1999) and Evergreen State (seven in 1998) but against Division II opponents, the CMU program has only exceeded seven goals three other times, all against Montana State Billings (12 in 1997, 10 in 1996 and nine in 1998).

It is the fifth time in program history the Mavericks have scored seven goals, with the others coming against New Mexico Highlands in 1997 and 2017, Evergreen State in 1998 and CSU Pueblo in 2006.

Staying Unbeaten
This season marks the seventh time in program history that Colorado Mesa has won each of a season's first three matches. If the Mavericks win both games this weekend, they will match the program's longest winning streak to begin a season in team history.

Colorado Mesa got off to a 5-0 start in 1997, a season in which they finished 17-4. The Mavericks also won the first four games of the 2001 season.

Since that 2001 campaign, the Mavericks have started a season 3-0 five times, including 2023. On each of the previous four occasions (2008, 2009, 2019 and 2021) the Mavericks lost in game number four.

The Mavs' longest unbeaten streak to begin a season sits at nine games and came in 2012, when CMU opened the season with a tie but went 7-0-2 to start the year. The Mavericks wound up losing seven of their final 10 games in that season.

About Angelo State
The Angelo State Rambelles were picked to finish second in the 13-team Lone Star Conference in the Women's Soccer Preseason Poll after finishing second a year ago with a 13-4-3 overall record and an 8-3-1 conference record.

Angelo State is off to a 1-2-1 start in 2023, however, and fellow RMAC schools are a big reason why. The Belles opened the year at home with a 3-3 tie against Central Oklahoma and a 4-0 win over East Central, but a road trip to the Front Range didn't go as well the next weekend, with ASU losing 4-0 to No. 2 Colorado School of Mines and 1-0 to MSU Denver.

Sophomore Abby James got off a torrid start with six points in the season's first two games. She scored once against Central Oklahoma and then contributed a goal and two assists against East Central. James did not register a point in six appearances for ASU in 2022.

The Rambelles return several standouts from last season, including senior midfielder Katelin Heise, a first-team All-Conference pick and a second-team All-Region selection from last season. Sophomore defender Harper Saxon was a member of the LSC All-Freshmen Team as the Rambelles recorded a conference-best 10 shutouts last season.

A large percentage of those shutouts can be attributed to the play of former ASU goalie Kira Miller, a two-time LSC Goalkeeper of the Year who was a Third Team All-American in 2022. Miller has graduated but is now on the Angelo State coaching staff.

Head Coach Travis McCorkle has been at Angelo State since 2008. In that time, ASU has four Lone Star championships and six NCAA postseason appearances. In 2021, the Belles won the Lone Star conference tournament and advanced to the second round of the NCAA tournament.

McCorkle is a Colorado Mesa alum, graduating with a bachelor's degree in physical education in 1994. He coached at Fruita Monument High School in Grand Junction from 1990-1994.
Colorado Mesa is 8-5 all-time against Angelo State but lost last season by a 2-1 score. Prior to 2022, the programs hadn't played each other since 2018.

About West Texas A&M
West Texas A&M was picked to finish third in the same Lone Star Preseason Poll, with one first-place vote. The Buffs are 1-0-2 this season, tying a pair of RMAC schools in CSU Pueblo and Adams State in Colorado before topping Southwestern Oklahoma State 2-1 at home.

The Buffs feature the Lone Star Preseason Goalkeeper of the Year in junior Reagan Heelan. A Second Team D2CCA All-Region Player last season, Heelan started all 22 saves and allowed just 17 goals while making 85 saves in 2022. Through three games this season, Heelan has conceded three times while making 10 saves.

On the offensive end, WT does not return the Trinidadian All-American duo of Maria-Frances Serrant and Asha James, who combined for 29 goals and 11 assists last season, or All-Region defender Emily Avila, who chipped in four goals. The Buffs' top returning scorer is Nicole Gray, a forward who found the net four times as a freshman and has scored once this season.

In 2023, Juniors Bailey Murray and Reagan Matacale have a goal and an assist apiece to lead the Buffs while sophomore defender Jasmine Gibson has also found the net.

West Texas A&M Head Coach Chad Webb begins his 14^th season in charge of WT women's soccer but has been a Buffaloes fixture for much longer. Webb assisted the women's program and occasionally the men's team for 13 seasons prior to assuming the head coaching role. Webb played soccer for WT and was the team captain while tallying 10 goals and 20 assists in his four-year career. As a head coach, Webb has five Lone Star Championships, one regional title and four NCAA Tournament appearances, including last season when they advanced to the second round.

Colorado Mesa and West Texas A&M have played three times but haven't faced one another since 2012. The results are split evenly, with CMU winning in 1998, WT winning in 2000 and the teams playing to a 3-3 tie in 2012.

Coach's Corner
Mavericks head coach Megan Remec is in her fourth season at the helm of the CMU program.
 
In her debut campaign, played in spring 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Remec led the Mavericks to a winning 5-4-1 record and to the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Tournament for the first time since 2017.

In her first full season in fall 2021, CMU finished 14-4 with a 10-2 RMAC record, winning the program's first regular-season RMAC title since 2000. At the conclusion of the 2021 season, Remec was named the RMAC Coach of the Year, becoming just the second individual Colorado Mesa coach to win that honor and the first since that same 2000 season.

Prior to CMU, Remec spent five seasons as an assistant coach at RMAC rival MSU Denver and was also an assistant coach at Elmhurst College (Division III) in Illinois.