GRAND JUNCTION, Colo.— After their two longest road trips of the season to Missouri and Florida, the Colorado Mesa University women's lacrosse team has returned home and will take on 13
th-ranked Grand Valley State University in the Mavs' home opener on Thursday.
The first draw at Community Hospital Unity Field will be at 4 o'clock.
The Mavericks, 1-3 on the season, will be facing their third consecutive nationally-ranked opponent in the Lakers, who are 2-0 thus far in 2025.
The game will be streamed live on the RMAC Network and live statistics can be at the link above.
A full recap will be posted on
www.cmumavericks.com following the game on Thursday evening.
Last Times Out
The Mavericks were in Florida last week, playing against Florida Tech in Melbourne on Thursday (Feb. 28) and at and in Saint Leo on Saturday (Mar. 1).
The Mavs lost 15-8 to the Florida Tech Panthers, ranked 20
th nationally at the time. CMU then dropped an 18-10 decision to the Saint Leo Lions, ranked ninth in last week's national poll.
Courtney Havel led the Maverick attack during the trip, scoring six goals while adding an assist. Havel had four goals against Saint Leo and two against Florida Tech.
Courteney Murray recorded her first career hat-trick with three goals in the Florida Tech game while
Justine Anderson registered her first of the season against Saint Leo.
Recaps of both games can be found below
Regional Contests
Thursday's game will the Mavs' final non-conference contest of the regular season and will be their third Midwest Regional game. The Mavs have gone 1-1 in those "in-region" games so far, falling at Rockhurst in their season-opener before bouncing back for a win at Missouri Western State two days later.
Six teams from the region, made up of 26 institutions from four conferences, will earn spots in the expanded NCAA Division II Tournament, making Thursday's contest a very important one from the regional ranking perspective.
As of Wednesday, the Mavericks sit seventh in the region with their .590 RPI (Rating Percent Index) while Grand Valley State is third at .677,
according to Inkblot Sports.
Tough Stretch
The Mavs are in the middle of a stretch that will see them play four consecutive games against nationally-ranked teams. They played at then No. 20 Florida Tech and then No. 9 Saint Leo last week, teams that are now ranked 21
st and eighth, respectively, in this week's IWLCA Division II Top 25 Poll.
After Thursday's game against No. 13 Grand Valley State, the Mavs will take on current No. 10 Regis in their RMAC opener next week.
This 4-game stretch marks the first time in program history that the Mavs will take on so many nationally ranked opponents consecutively.
The tough scheduling is nothing new to the Mavericks, who played six games against four different nationally-ranked foes last year, including then No. 6 Grand Valley State to begin the year. The Mavs lost all six of those games, but won their other 11 contests in 2023.
The Mavs also played seven games against five different nationally-ranked foes in 2023 and defeated then No. 4 Regis on Apr. 23, 2023 to help win a share of the RMAC Regular Season title with the Rangers. That was CMU's last win over a nationally-ranked opponent.
The Mavs had also opened the 2023 campaign against then tenth-ranked Grand Valley State at home.
CMU Head Coach
Ashley Delaney embraces the challenge, saying "I would rather play the hard teams. You have no choice but to make adjustments and know exactly where you stand after playing those games,"
during this week's pre-game press conference.
"We have learned something from every game and we're in a really good spot because we know exactly what we need to fix and what we need to adjust."
"It's been great to play these really tough teams and are confident moving forward."
New in Net
Maverick freshman
Heather Hawkins made her first career start in last Saturday's game against nationally-ranked Saint Leo. She went wire-to-wire in the game and made 14 saves while recording eight groundballs, the highest individual single-game total of the season and tied for sixth most in program history. The Palmer Lake, Colorado product also played throughout the second half of Thursday's game against Florida Tech, making eight saves while allowing just four goals in relief of starter
Shannon Murphy, who had started 37 consecutive games since the start of the 2023 campaign, including each of the first three this year.
Nearing the Century Mark
Two-time First Team All-RMAC attack
Justine Anderson recorded her first hat-trick of the season in Saturday's game against Saint Leo. The junior out of Colorado Springs, Colorado has scored in all four games and has eight goals and 15 points to her credit this season.
In the process, Anderson has raised her career goal total to 89 and her point total to 120, which is now the eighth best total program history.
Anderson began the year ranked 13
th in that category. She also stands seventh in career goal scoring and needs just 11 more goals to become the fifth Maverick to reach the century mark.
Now CMU Assistant Coach
Kiley Davis was the last to reach that mark, doing so in 2023 while finishing the 3-season portion of her career with the Mavericks with 136 goals.
Speaking of 100
Maverick senior
Caroline Ohngemach also reached the century mark for career points during the trip to Florida. She recorded an assist in both games and scored a goal against Saint Leo.
Ohngemach now has 102 career points with 57 goals and 45 points.
Feeding Time
The Mavericks lead the RMAC in total assists with 29 and with their 7.25 assist per game average.
The Mavs have been able to record assists on 61.7 percent of their 47 total goals this season, which is also the highest ratio in the RMAC.
On an individual basis,
Ali Bryant is tied for the RMAC lead with eight assists while
Justine Anderson is third in the conference with seven helpers.
Defending the CHUF
The Mavericks have been historically good at home, posting a winning record on their home turf in each season since and including 2015. The Mavs have gone 51-15 (.773) at home in the last ten years and are 57-30 (.655) at home throughout the history of the program, which began in 2011. They were 6-15 at home in the first four years.
The Mavs went 5-2 at home last season and were 6-1 in 2023 but did drop their home-opener in both of the seasons, a trend they will hope to reverse on Thursday.
The Coach
The 2025 season is the second with Head Coach
Ashley Delaney running the Maverick program.
Delaney is no stranger to the squad and will be in her sixth year overall after serving as an assistant for the previous four seasons from 2020-23.
The Mavs went 11-6 last season with Delaney in charge and posted a 33-19 combined record in her four years as an assistant under two previous head coaches.
The Mavs also won a share of the program's only RMAC Regular Season title in 2023 and have been in the RMAC Tournament Championship game in each of the last four years.
Including this season, Delaney has a winning 12-9 record as a head coach. The Mavericks are a combined 34-22 with her on the coaching staff.
She is 0-1 as a head coach against Grand Valley State.
Know Your Foe
The Grand Valley State University Lakers hail from Allendale, Michigan, located just west of Grand Rapids.
The Lakers are off to a 2-0 start and are ranked 13
th in this week's edition of the IWLCA Division II Coaches' Poll. They are a traditional power in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference and the NCAA Division II Midwest Region, having won the conference regular season and tournament titles in each of the last four years.
They have also advanced to the NCAA Division II Tournament in each of the last three years and won the Midwest Region title in 2022.
Last year's squad went 17-2 and fell to Regis in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament.
First-year Coach Dominique Hamman's squad has outscored their opponents by a combined 29-18 margin in their first two games this season, winning 13-9 over Indiana (Pa.) on Feb. 23 before claiming another 16-8 road win over Quincy (Ill.) on Sunday. Ashleigh Rothe, a First Team IWLCA All-Midwest Region and First Team All-GLIC pick in 2024, leads the Lakers with nine goals, four assists and 13 offensive points thus far while Ella Boose has scored five times in the early going.
Boose also has nine draw controls to pace the Lakers in that category. Ashleigh and Karleigh Rothe are tied for the team lead with six groundballs while Gracie Bancroft and Quinn McElroy both have four caused turnovers.
Kayln Cater has started and played the first half in both games thus far, posting a 2-0 record, a 8.00 goals against average and .529 save percentage with nine saves. Sarah Krause has played the second half in both of the Lakers' games thus far and has comparable numbers with a 10.00 goals against average and .524 save percentage. Krause has stopped 11 shots.
Series History
The Mavs and Lakers have faced each other three previous times, with two of those games being played in Grand Junction. CMU won 14-11 on Mar. 5, 2019 in a game that helped propel the Mavs to that year's NCAA Division II Tournament.
The Lakers have won early March games in each of the past two seasons, winning 13-8 on Mar. 3, 2023 in their last trip to Western Colorado. GVSU also won 9-3 on Mar. 1 of last season in a neutral-site game in Saint Louis, Mo.
Up Next
The Mavericks will begin Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference play with what will be their fourth straight game against a nationally-ranked foe. They will play at No. 10 Regis next Friday (Mar. 14) at 5 p.m. in a re-match of the RMAC Tournament Championship game of each of the last four years.
GVSU will also play at Regis this Sunday at 11 a.m. as they wrap up their stay in Colorado. That game will be a re-match from last year's NCAA Tournament first round affair.
