GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. – Colorado Mesa women's lacrosse is set to begin the second half of its RMAC season, with five games down and five to go against conference opponents. The Mavericks will play three of their final five RMAC games and four of their final six overall games at home at Community Hospital Unity Field, starting with two games this weekend.

The Mavs will host Fort Lewis on Friday at 4 p.m. and CSU Pueblo on Sunday at 1 p.m. Colorado Mesa has previously defeated both upcoming opponents by double digits this season.

Maverick fans will have a chance to see history this weekend, as redshirt senior defender Kelsey Viger will enter Friday's game tied for the school's all-time career caused turnovers record with 130. Just one caused turnover for Viger, who averages nearly three per game, will put her into the record books.

Looking Back
Colorado Mesa suffered its first loss of the RMAC season to No. 8-ranked Regis but rebounded by using a fourth quarter run to beat UCCS two days later.

RECAP: Regis | UCCS

The Mavericks were tied with UCCS at the end of the first, second and third quarters but outscored the Mountain Lions 4-0 in the final period to secure the win. Freshman Madi Kruis scored the second hat trick of her career with all three of her goals coming in the fourth quarter as CMU took over the game late and maintained its perfect 11-0 record all-time against UCCS.

Verge of History
Kelsey Viger has been on an upward trajectory throughout her college career. The redshirt senior progressed from a Second Team All-RMAC selection in 2021 to a First Team pick in 2022 and finally, winning the RMAC Defensive Player of the Year award alongside another First Team selection in 2023.

Viger has racked up caused turnovers throughout her career, ranking second in the RMAC with 26 in 2022 and leading the conference with 54 last season, 20 more than any other RMAC player. The 54 caused turnovers are the third-highest single-season total in Maverick history, trailing the duo of Olivia Hayden and Erin Koehler who put up 66 and 62 caused turnovers, respectively, during the same season in 2019.

Viger will enter Friday's game against Fort Lewis tied with Hayden for CMU's all-time career caused turnovers record at 130. Hayden racked up her 130 caused turnovers in 67 career games while Viger will play her 61^st career game against the Skyhawks.

Solid Sequel
It's been anything but a sophomore slump for Maverick attacker Justine Anderson. The Colorado Springs native continued her stellar offensive season with two goals against Regis and six goals on the way to a career-high eight-point night against UCCS.

That performance made it three weeks in a row that Anderson has scored five or more goals in a game for Colorado Mesa. Anderson previously scored six goals against Rockhurst on March 20 and netted five against Westminster on March 29. The six goals are a career high for Anderson, which she has now accomplished twice in the last three weeks.

After earning First Team All-RMAC honors last season as a true freshman but finishing second on the team behind the since-departed Kiley Davis in goals, points and shots, Anderson has embraced her role as CMU's number one attack option during the 2024 season.

With 28 goals and 35 points through nine games played this season, Anderson leads the RMAC in goals per game (3.11) and points per game (3.89). She also paces the conference in shots per game with 6.44. Anderson ranks fifth in the RMAC in total goals and sixth in total points.

Redemption
After a difficult game against Regis, draw specialist Emme Rezoski responded with the best game of her college career against UCCS.

Regis handled Colorado Mesa at the "X" during last Friday's game, as the Rangers racked up a 23-3 advantage in draw controls and earned plenty of extra possessions that helped them wear down the Maverick defense over the course of their victory.

Against the Mountain Lions, the script flipped. Colorado Mesa grabbed 19 draw controls compared to 11 for UCCS, with Rezoski snaring 12 draw controls to outpace the entire Mountain Lions team by herself. The 12 draw controls were a single-game career high for Rezoski, besting her previous career high of nine against Regis on April 6, 2023 and well ahead of her previous season high of five against Maryville back on March 3.

Rezoski's 12 draw controls are tied for the fifth-highest single-game total in Maverick history, alongside one instance from teammate Ali Bryant and three from alum Olivia Hayden. Hayden also owns all of the top four single-game performances in school history, tallying 14 draw controls against Westminster on April 22, 2019 and tallying 13 three times.

By The Numbers
Through nine games, Colorado Mesa has an even scoring differential, with 98 goals scored and 98 goals allowed.

Due to the stranglehold that Regis has on the rest of the RMAC at the moment, however, Colorado Mesa is actually the only RMAC team outside of Regis to not have a negative differential. UCCS has a scoring margin of -1.2, followed by CSU Pueblo (-4.0), Fort Lewis (-4.7) and Westminster (-5.3). Regis's scoring margin is currently +8.0.

Colorado Mesa has scored the third-most goals per game in the RMAC at 10.89, trailing Regis and UCCS, but the Mavericks have the conference's second best defense with a goals-against average of 10.89. The Mavericks rank second in the RMAC in fewest turnovers committed per game (18.11) and draw controls per game (12.67) while ranking third in caused turnovers per game (10.22).

Individually, Courtney Havel leads the Mavericks with nine assists. Havel ranks tied for sixth in the RMAC in total assists, but with the sophomore only having played in seven games so far this season, Havel ranks second in the RMAC with 1.29 assists per game.

Among RMAC goalies, Shannon Murphy ranks second among seven qualified cage minders with a 10.89 goals-against average while ranking fourth in saves per game and fifth in save percentage.

In the Polls
Colorado Mesa is unranked in the IWLCA national poll. The Mavs are 0-4 against nationally ranked opponents, falling to No. 6 Maryville, No. 7 Regis (the RMAC's only ranked program), No. 8 Grand Valley State and No. 14 UIndy. They are 5-0 this season against unranked opponents.

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 Fort Lewis
Fort Lewis enters Friday's match at 2-7 overall with a 1-4 RMAC record. The Skyhawks are coming off their first RMAC win of the season last Saturday, a 10-9 win over CSU Pueblo where FLC came back from 9-6 down with seven minutes remaining for a come-from-behind victory.

In nonconference play, Fort Lewis enjoyed a lopsided 25-3 win over Southern Wesleyan but lost to Concordia St. Paul, Young Harris and Emmanuel. They have also lost to RMAC opponents CMU, Westminster, UCCS and then-No. 9 Regis, who shut out the Skyhawks 17-0 on March 30.

Senior attacker Caprietta Abbadessa leads FLC with 21 goals this season through nine games after not scoring more than 19 goals in her previous three seasons. Abbadessa has scored four goals on three separate occasions this season, including against RMAC foes UCCS and CSU Pueblo. Haley Dostie, a Second Team All-RMAC forward last season who was the RMAC's top per-game points scorer in 2023, is second on the Skyhawks this year with 12 goals and 18 points. Dostie scored a season-high four goals against CMU earlier this season.

Head coach Ashley Travis is in his fifth season at Fort Lewis. She is 17-37 overall and 15-23 in the RMAC during her tenure at Fort Lewis. Prior to coming to Durango, Travis spent three years at Heidelberg University (Division III), including two years as a head coach.

Colorado Mesa leads Fort Lewis 12-11 in the all-time series. The Mavericks have won 12 meetings in a row after Fort Lewis won the first 11 matchups between 2011-2015. CMU defeated the Skyhawks 16-7 earlier this season on March 15 behind four goals from Justine Anderson and a hat trick from Elizabeth Renken.

About CSU Pueblo
CSU Pueblo is 2-7 overall and 0-5 in the RMAC. The ThunderWolves tallied early nonconference wins over Lake Erie and Tiffin but have now lost 21 of their last 22 RMAC games played dating back to 2022 (not including one win by forfeit in that span). CSU Pueblo recently lost a 10-9 nailbiter to Fort Lewis, with FLC scoring four goals in the game's final seven minutes to rally from a 9-6 deficit.

The ThunderWolves feature two players with 18 goals apiece in sophomore British Columbia native Elise Magee and graduate student Caira Lessick. Magee scored a hat trick against UCCS and recorded a goal and two assists against Fort Lewis while Lessick put up a stunning 10 goals against Tiffin but only has one goal in two games since.

Baylee Magee ranks second in the RMAC with 42 draw controls (4.67 per game). ThunderWolves goalie Breonna Mason leads the conference in ground balls per game (4.38) and ranks second in saves per game (11.50) and save percentage (.503). Mason's 12.13 goals-against average is third in the RMAC.

CSU Pueblo head coach Taylor (Christensen) Ward served as the program's interim coach last season but has had that designation removed for this year. Ward is a CSUP alum and ranks second on the school's all-time lists with 108 goals and 142 points while leading in ground balls (191), draw controls (224) and caused turnovers (113).

Colorado Mesa has never lost to CSU Pueblo, accumulating an all-time 16-0 record against the Pack. Additionally, the Mavericks have scored double-digit goals in every contest against the ThunderWolves. The Mavs won 15-4 earlier this season in Pueblo.

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.