GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. – After a key regional win over Rockhurst and an opportunity to compete against recent national champions in UIndy, Colorado Mesa women's lacrosse will see its RMAC season kick into high gear, starting this weekend with a clash at Westminster.  

The Mavs and Griffins will square off on Friday at 4 p.m. in Salt Lake City. Colorado Mesa will enter that game with a record of 3-3 overall and 2-0 in the RMAC. Friday's game will be CMU's final road game before a four-game homestand which includes showdowns against fellow RMAC frontrunners Regis and UCCS on April 5 and 7.

Looking Back
Colorado Mesa extended its win streak to three games with a 13-9 win over Rockhurst before losing to No. 12 UIndy by an 18-7 score in CMU's home opener last Sunday.

RECAPS: Rockhurst | UIndy

Justine Anderson achieved a new career high with six goals against Rockhurst while Carson Dickey added a hat trick. Anderson and Dickey then led CMU's offensive output with two goals each in the loss to UIndy. Goalie Shannon Murphy made eight saves against Rockhurst and five saves against UIndy.  

Back-to-Back
Kelsey Viger won her second straight RMAC Defensive Player of the Week award based on her performances last weekend. Viger became the first RMAC player to win multiple weekly awards this season on the offensive or defensive end.

Player of the Week Release

Viger recorded four ground balls and four caused turnovers against Rockhurst before adding two ground balls and three caused turnovers against UIndy. The Minnesotan ranks eighth in Division II and leads the RMAC with 3.0 caused turnovers per game having racked up 18 in Colorado Mesa's six contests. Viger also ranks sixth in the RMAC with 15 total ground balls.

Stat Pack
With her eight goals over last weekend's games, Justine Anderson is CMU's leading scorer with 15 goals. Anderson ranks sixth in the RMAC in goals and goals per game and is tied for sixth with 20 points. Carson Dickey is CMU's other double-digit scorer with 10 goals and two assists through six games. Dickey has scored multiple goals in CMU's last four contests, including a hat trick against Rockhurst.

Colorado Mesa has an .850 clear percentage as a team (108-127) while holding opponents to a .793 percentage (107-135). The Mavericks are outshooting opponents 182-140 but getting slightly outscored, 65-62. Colorado Mesa ranks fourth in the RMAC with 10.33 goals per game and 14.83 points per game.

The Mavericks have an edge in the face-off circle this season, with 81 draw controls compared to 69 for their opponents. The Mavs have scored 11 goals from free position shots, nine from woman-up situations and 35 unassisted goals.

Have's and Have Not's
The women's lacrosse standings for the RMAC currently feature three undefeated teams and three winless teams.

At 2-0 in conference play, Colorado Mesa is in a three-way tie for the RMAC lead with Westminster, next Friday's opponent, and traditional conference power Regis. UCCS, last season's third place finisher, is 0-1 in RMAC play with a loss to Regis, while Fort Lewis is 0-2 and CSU Pueblo is 0-3.

More nuance will be added to the conference standings by the end of this weekend. One of CMU and Westminster will fall from the ranks of the conference unbeatens after Friday's match, and UCCS is scheduled to play both CSU Pueblo and Fort Lewis before Sunday night.

In the Polls
Colorado Mesa is unranked in the IWLCA national poll. The Mavs have played three ranked opponents, which are CMU's three losses this season – No. 6 Maryville, No. 10 Grand Valley State and No. 13 UIndy.

Regis, who Colorado Mesa will play twice during the regular season, is No. 9 in this week's national poll. The Rangers are the RMAC's only ranked program.

Colorado Mesa was picked second in the RMAC Preseason Coaches Poll, the fifth consecutive season that the Mavs have been picked to finish second. Regis, which has won the past four RMAC regular season titles (three outright and one shared with CMU), led the poll with five of six first-place votes and 25 total points. Colorado Mesa received the final first-place vote and finished the poll with 21 points. UCCS finished third in the poll with 17 total points, followed by Westminster in fourth with 12 points, CSU Pueblo in fifth with eight points and Fort Lewis in sixth with seven points.

About Westminster
Westminster is 2-3 this season and, like Colorado Mesa, 2-0 in the RMAC. The Griffins opened the year with an 0-3 trip to Florida that saw them face three nationally ranked opponents, losing 23-3 to No. 11 Embry-Riddle, 17-7 to No. 10 Flagler and 19-1 to No. 23 Florida Tech. Westminster rebounded with a couple of RMAC wins last weekend, however, defeating CSU Pueblo 14-3 and Fort Lewis 13-7.

Sophomore Shaina Shoughro leads Westminster offensively with eight goals and one assist, led by a hat trick in Westminster's most recent game against Fort Lewis on Monday. Sophomore Annabelle Kugler has five goals for the Griffins to rank second on the team. Kugler has scored in each of Westminster's last four games. Senior sisters Maddie Kelleher and Hannah Kelleher have four goals apiece for Westminster.

The Griffins rank last in the six-team RMAC with 38 goals scored and 7.6 goals per game, but they have allowed the second-fewest goals in the league with 69 and rank fourth in the conference with a 13.80 goals-against average.

Colorado Mesa women's lacrosse is 18-1 all-time against Westminster. The Mavs' only loss to the Griffins came in 2012, during the second-ever meeting between the two schools. CMU is 10-0 against Westminster since the Griffins joined the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference. Last season, CMU won both games in Grand Junction and Salt Lake by identical scores of 18-7.

Coach's Corner
After spending four years with the Mavericks as the lead assistant coach, Ashley Delaney will be a first-year head coach in 2024.

In her four years as the assistant coach, Delaney was primarily responsible for running the midfield and defense for the Mavericks, helping develop Kelsey Viger into an IWLCA First-Team All-American as CMU allowed fewer than 10 goals per game last season. Prior to CMU, Delaney coached at NCAA Division III school Muhlenberg College in Allentown, Pennsylvania, and coached at the club level in Southern California.