ST. LOUIS – Colorado Mesa women's lacrosse received a hat trick from
Caroline Ohngemach, but ultimately couldn't solve a tough Grand Valley State defense as the No. 23 Mavericks fell 9-3 to the No. 6-ranked Lakers in CMU's 2024 season-opener.
Ohngemach scored once in the first quarter and twice in the third quarter, but the Mavericks were otherwise shut out by Grand Valley, who reached the NCAA tournament Final Four last season. The Lakers led 6-2 at halftime and neither team ever scored more than three goals in a single quarter.
The big difference in the game came on free position shots. Grand Valley State earned eight free position attempts and converted five of them, including 3 of 4 attempts in the first quarter. By contrast, CMU did not have a free position shot all game.
The rest of the stats were fairly even across the board – Grand Valley State outshot CMU 21-15 and had a 10-6 edge on draw controls, but committed more turnovers (19 to CMU's 18), had just one more ground ball (14 to CMU's 13) and were only marginally better on clears (17-for-20 compared to CMU going 17-for-22).
Ashleigh Rothe and Sydney Stone both had hat tricks for Grand Valley State. CMU goaltender
Shannon Murphy made seven saves, as did GVSU counterpart Kaylyn Carter.
Ohngemach and sophomore
Justine Anderson took five shots apiece to lead the Mavericks, with four of Ohngemach's and three of Anderson's attempts going on target. Sophomore
Carson Dickey had two shots for the Mavs.
The Maverick defense had a strong showing against a GVSU attack that entered the contest averaging 14.5 goals per game.
Ali Bryant and
Kelsey Viger each finished with two ground balls and a caused turnover, leading a balanced effort that saw 10 different Mavericks scoop a ground ball and seven different Mavs cause a turnover.
True freshmen
Sofia Chock and
Madi Kruis made their college debuts during the contest.
The Mavericks will remain in St. Louis to take on No. 12 Maryville, who hosted today's contest between CMU and GVSU. The Saints are 5-0, scoring 20 or more goals in four games and 25 goals three times.
