GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. – With a thrilling overtime win over UCCS and a loss to league-leading Regis, CMU women's lacrosse is locked into the No. 2 seed in the RMAC with a week to go in the regular season. The Mavericks now have two home games – one conference and one nonconference – to build momentum prior to next weekend's RMAC tournament.

The Mavs (8-5, 7-2 RMAC) will host Division II independent Dominican at noon on Friday, April 26 before the RMAC and regular season finale against Westminster on Sunday, April 28 at 2 p.m. Both games will take place at Community Hospital Unity Field and will be available to stream live on the RMAC Network or followed via live stats.

Looking Back
Colorado Mesa survived a second half comeback attempt to defeat UCCS 12-11 in overtime before losing 16-7 for the second time this season to No. 7-ranked Regis.

RECAP: UCCS | Regis

Caroline Ohngemach rescued the Mavericks with the overtime game-winning goal to beat the Mountain Lions, which was CMU's first overtime since the program's historic upset of Regis last season. The Mavs could not shock the Rangers this time around, falling behind 9-1 after the first quarter on the way to CMU's third consecutive loss to Regis since that overtime win.

Senior Day
Sunday's game against Westminster will feature a pregame Senior Day ceremony. Seven seniors are scheduled to take part in the ceremony – Larkin Daly, Peyton Ivey, Kaitlyn Moyka, Elizabeth Renken, Taylor Scott, Marley Strasters and Amber Wennerstrom.

Sunday will also be the final home game for CMU All-American defender Kelsey Viger, who was honored on Senior Day last season before returning for her final season of eligibility.

Your Turn
Sophomore Justine Anderson has been Colorado Mesa's top scorer this season with 41 goals. Anderson peaked during a five-game stretch in which she tallied five goals against Westminster, six against UCCS, seven against Fort Lewis and four against CSU Pueblo in the span of 15 days.

Anderson struggled this past weekend by her lofty standards, however. She was held scoreless against UCCS, her first time failing to score since the season-opener against Grand Valley State, then scored twice against Regis. Fortunately, other Mavericks picked up the slack.

Carson Dickey set a career high with six goals scored against the Mountain Lions. The sophomore from Murietta, California took nine shots, seven of which were on target. Dickey had a hat trick within the game's first 10 minutes and scored four goals in the first quarter, while her sixth and final tally of the day gave CMU a 10-9 lead with seven minutes left in the game.

Senior attacker Elizabeth Renken also starred last weekend. With one multi-goal game on the season entering the week, Renken scored twice against both UCCS and Regis. After her four-goal weekend, Renken became the fourth CMU player with double-digit goals this season, as Renken's 11 trails only Anderson, Dickey (25 goals) and Caroline Ohngemach (16) on the CMU roster.

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

The Mavs were also not listed among the top six teams in the NCAA's regional rankings which are under consideration for the four NCAA tournament selection spots. Those spots went (alphabetically) to Frostburg State, Grand Valley State, Maryville, Northern Michigan, Regis and UIndy.

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 Dominican
The Dominican Penguins play an independent Division II schedule in their first season as a Division II varsity program and are 3-7 so far this season. Dominican recently lost to Westminster by a 19-12 score on Wednesday and are now 1-3 against RMAC opponents, beating CSU Pueblo and losing to Regis, UCCS and Westminster. Dominican has also lost to Rockhurst, a team that Colorado Mesa has beaten.

Grad student attacker Jacelyn Lazore has put up an impressive 30 goals in nine games this season. Lazore has scored a hat trick or better in four consecutive games, tallying four goals against William Jewell, three against Beloit, six against Lewis and three against Westminster.

Colorado Mesa transfer Brooke Vafi, who put up 10 points as a true freshman for the Mavericks in 2022, has flourished playing for Dominican in her native state of California, ranking second on the team with 32 points (20 goals and a team high 12 assists) in 2024. The Penguins have played three goalies in between 120 and 300 minutes. They have scored 131 goals while allowing 148 in their 10 games.

Colorado Mesa and Dominican have never faced one another before. The Penguins are coached by Joseph Manna, who was the inaugural coach of the program in 2021 and oversaw Dominican's transition to Division II for 2023-24. Manna has also spent time coaching with the University of Detroit Mercy and the Iroquois National lacrosse team.

About Westminster
At 6-7 overall and 5-4 in the RMAC, Westminster will be fighting to hold onto the No. 3 seed in the RMAC, which they can clinch with either a win over CMU or a UCCS loss in either of its final two games against Fort Lewis and CSU Pueblo. This season, Westminster has swept FLC and CSUP, split with UCCS and lost twice to Regis while also losing their first matchup against CMU.

Sophomore Las Vegas native Shaina Shoughro leads the Griffins and is tied for sixth in the RMAC with 29 goals and is ninth in the league with 33 points. Shoughro has five hat tricks against RMAC opponents this season. Jordan Williamson is Westminster's other 20-goal scorer, as the freshman burst onto the scene with six goals against Dominican on Wednesday to take her season total to 21 goals.

Westminster has scored 120 goals while allowing 175. The Griffins are sixth and last in the RMAC in both assists per game (3.08), shots per game (24.08) and ground balls per game (18.46).

Colorado Mesa women's lacrosse is 19-1 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 11-0 against Westminster since the Griffins joined the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, including a 14-6 win earlier this season.

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.