GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. – The No. 8-ranked Regis Rangers jumped out to a 4-0 lead and outscored Colorado Mesa 9-2 in the second half of a 16-7 victory over the Mavericks in Grand Junction on Friday afternoon at Community Hospital Unity Field.
Justine Anderson and
Devon Morris both scored twice for the Mavericks while
Carson Dickey,
Caroline Ohngemach and
Amber Wennerstrom found the net once. The loss handed the Mavericks their first defeat of the RMAC season as the team fell to 4-4 overall and 3-1 in RMAC play. Regis improves to 10-1 and 4-0 in conference play. With the loss, Colorado Mesa is now 1-30 all-time against Regis.
Draw controls were the big storyline, as Regis dominated by winning 23 out of 26 draw controls over the course of the game. The discrepancy allowed Regis to outshoot CMU 38-19 despite the two schools having comparable turnover and clear numbers, and the extra possessions and mileage put on the Maverick defense seemed to pay dividends as Regis gradually put the game out of reach in the second half.
Regis jumped on the Mavs early, scoring twice in the opening two-and-a-half minutes and finding the net again with 13 seconds remaining in the first quarter to take a 4-0 lead after the opening 15 minutes.
Colorado Mesa clawed back in the second quarter, however, outscoring Regis 5-3 and scoring four of the final five goals in the first half.
Caroline Ohngemach and
Amber Wennerstrom linked up for a pair of goals in the final 40 seconds of the half, with Wennerstrom assisting Ohngemach before Ohngemach assisted Wennerstrom at the buzzer to make it just a two-goal game heading into halftime.
Unfortunately, the Mavs were unable to maintain the momentum after halftime. After the two teams traded goals early in the third quarter, Regis scored eight unanswered goals between 5:57 in the third quarter and 5:57 in the fourth quarter to extend an 8-6 advantage up to 16-6. In the second half, Colorado Mesa was outshot 18-6 and outdrawn 12-1.
The Mavericks will remain at home on Sunday afternoon and take on UCCS, who lost in heartbreaking fashion to Westminster on Friday night as the Griffins won 9-8 on a buzzer-beating goal. UCCS is 4-5 overall and 2-2 in the RMAC. First draw is at noon on Sunday.
