GRAND JUNCTION, Colo.— Winners of six straight and continuing to sit atop the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference standings, the Colorado Mesa University women's lacrosse team will host their two biggest conference rivals in what are at least arguably, the two biggest regular season games in program history this weekend at Community Hospital Unity Field.
 
The Mavs, 7-4 overall and a perfect 6-0 in RMAC play, will take on third-place UCCS (8-3, 5-2 RMAC) on Friday at 4 p.m. before hosting second-place and national poll No. 15 Regis (8-4, 6-1 RMAC) on Sunday at 2 p.m.
 
The Mavericks will also recognize their six seniors during Senior Day festivities prior to warm-ups at approximately 12:40 p.m. on Sunday.
 
Tickets for both games can be purchased through www.cmumavericks.com/tickets.
 
For fans that cannot attend in person, both contests will be streamed on the RMAC Network at www.cmumavericks.com/tv.  Live statistics can also be accessed here.
 
Last Time Out
 
The Mavericks claimed a dominant 20-5 road win over Westminster University last Saturday (Apr. 5) in Salt Lake City, Utah.
 
The Mavs jumped out to a 7-0 lead in the first ten minutes and led 11-1 after the first quarter as the remaining three quarters were played with a running clock.
 
Justine Anderson scored five goals and assisted on four others to match the CMU single-game record for points with nine.
 
Caroline Ohngemach also continued her scoring spree, netting three goals while adding three assists.  Ali Bryant, Ella Freemon and Courtney Havel all scored two goals as well.
 
Eleven different Mavericks scored.
 
Bryant also had three assists and three draw controls while Emma Rezoski had seven draw controls, helping the Mavericks win 18 of 27 while also finishing with a 29-14 advantage in ground balls.

Anderson also had six groundballs to double her previous career-high while freshman goalkeeper Heather Hawkins made five saves while giving up just 54 minutes of work.
 
A full recaps of the game can be seen here.
 
Century Woman matches record
 
As mentioned in the previous note, Justine Anderson matched the CMU record for offensive points in a game with nine.  She is the fifth different Maverick to ever accomplish that feat joining elite company of Alexis Rawlings (2011), Ashley Eickhoff (2014), Paige Elliott (2019) and Kenzie Blackwell (2020).  Anderson is just the second Maverick to do it a RMAC game, joining Elliott, who had nine points in a Mar. 15, 2019 home win (21-0) over then associate RMAC member Oklahoma Baptist.
 
Anderson's effort came just six days after she became just the fifth Maverick to ever score 100 career goals, netting the milestone goal in CMU's 17-6 win over Fort Lewis on Mar. 30.
 
Anderson, a junior, now has 105 career goals and 151 career points, sixth most in CMU history.
 
She also ranks second in the RMAC for both assists (22) and points (46) this season.
 
What's at Stake
 
Quite simply, a lot is on the line this weekend as the RMAC Regular Season Championship and tournament hosting rights could be decided this week, a week before the end of the regular season.
 
The Mavericks currently lead the RMAC standings by a half-game over Regis and are 1 ½ up on UCCS heading into the weekend.  If CMU is able to replicate their road sweep over the Rangers and Mountain Lions at home this weekend, they would clinch a share of the RMAC Regular Season title and would be guaranteed of the No. 1 seed and the right to host the Apr. 25 and 27 RMAC Tournament for the first time in program history thanks to having swept the head-to-head meetings.
 
In that scenario, the Mavs could then clinch the outright title with one win at last place Fort Lewis or fifth place CSU Pueblo next week.
 
If CMU were to defeat UCCS, but lose to Regis by four or fewer goals, the Mavericks would still have the inside track to win at least a share of the RMAC crown and hosting rights as the second tie-breaker seeding is goal differential in head-to-head meetings.
 
Things do get more complicated if UCCS were to win on Friday as the Mountain Lions still have the opportunity to host Regis next week after the Rangers came from behind to claim a 1-goal home win last month in Denver.  With two losses already, UCCS will need to beat the Mavs and have someone else take them down as well to have a shot at a RMAC title and send the RMAC Tournament to Colorado Springs.
 
Best Conference Start
 
The Mavericks' 6-0 conference start is equal to their program best.  CMU has a chance to go to 7-0 for the first time on Friday against UCCS.
 
The Mavs also went 6-0 at the start of a 7-1 conference season in 2021.
 
Defending the CHUF
 
The Mavericks have been historically good at home, posting a winning record on their home turf at Community Hospital Unity Field in each season since and including 2015.  With their 3-1 home record so far this year, the Mavs have gone 54-16 (.771) at home in the last ten-plus years and are 60-31 (.659) at home throughout the history of the program, which began in 2011. 
 
They were 6-15 at home in the first four years from 2011-14.
 
The Mavs went 5-2 at home last season and were 6-1 in 2023.
 
This weekend's games are the last home regular season contests of the year, but as mentioned earlier the Mavs could host the RMAC Tournament for the first time with some positive results in the home stretch.
 
RMAC Records
 
With their wins last week at Westminster, the Mavs have an even better 71-20 (.780) record in RMAC games, including two forfeit wins over Adams State in 2021 and 2022 that are not included in the Mavs' all-time overall record, as those games were declared "no contests" by the NCAA.
 
Eighteen of the Mavs' 20 all-time RMAC losses have come to Regis, the only RMAC team to have beaten the Mavericks this decade.  CMU has not lost an RMAC game to any other current conference member.
 
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 18-10 record as a head coach.  The Mavericks are a combined 40-23 with her on the coaching staff.
 
Delaney is 4-0 against UCCS and 1-3 against Regis as a head coach.
 
Know Your Foes
 
UCCS
 
The Mountain Lions are 8-3 overall and 5-2 in RMAC play.  They swept home games last week, putting up 45 combined goals in 22-6 and 23-12 wins over CSU Pueblo and Fort Lewis.
 
Sarah Urbanic scored 14 of those goals and set a school record with nine in the win over CSU Pueblo and was named as the Mountain Lions' first Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association (IWLCA) Division II Offensive Player of the Week on Tuesday.  She also earned RMAC Offensive Player of the Week for the second time in three weeks on Monday.
 
Urbanic leads the RMAC with 48 goals and 65 total points and has heled the Mountain Lions lead the conference in goal scoring with 185, a 16.82 per game average.
 
Sofia Watts and Emma Grace Martin are also big parts of the offensive attack.  Watts has 36 goals while Martin has tallied 29 while also assisting on 17 to rank second on the team behind Urbanic with 46 total points.  Watts is third in the RMAC for scoring.
 
Ava Goodnature leads the team with 17 caused turnovers while Kendra Knutson while also recording a team-high 38 groundballs, 14 more than Goodnature's total of 24.
 
Jade Wilson leads the team with 44 draw controls.
 
Jordyn Nunez is the Mountain Lions' primary goalkeeper and holds a 9.80 goals against average and .420 save percentage.  She has made 34 saves.
 
Ellen Gernert has also made five appearances and has a 10.99 goals against average and .485 save percentage in just over 92 minutes.
 
Regis
 
The nation's 15^th-ranked Rangers are 8-4 overall and sport a 6-1 RMAC record.  They have also won six straight games heading into Friday's clash at fourth place Westminster.
 
Their last loss was to CMU by a 16-11 score on Mar. 14 in Denver.
 
The Rangers have the RMAC's top margin of victory and have scored 167 points while giving up 99 as the top defense in the league.
 
Goalie Brigit Goetsch has the RMAC's top goals against average (8.74) and save percentage (.520) and has made 102 saves to rank second in the conference.
 
Megan Bunker is one of the Rangers' top all-around players and has 67 draw controls while causing 22 turnovers.  She also has 30 groundballs to stand second behind Madeline Schallmoser, who has 36.
 
Shea Murphy leads the offensive attack with 35 goals and has also recorded 43 draw controls.  She is fourth in the RMAC for goal scoring.
 
Lexie Springman is second on the team with 19 goals while Becky Goetsch has 18 goals and a RMAC-leading 24 assists to lead the team with 42 total points. 
 
Series History
 
The Mavericks are 14-0 all-time against UCCS, including their 18-15 win in Colorado Springs on Mar. 16.  The two teams have met in the semifinal round of each of the last four RMAC Tournament semifinals.
 
Four of CMU's wins in the rivalry have come at home, including last year's 15-11 Maverick win on Apr. 7, 2024.
 
The Mavs defeated Regis for just the second time in 34 all-time meetings back on Mar. 14, winning 16-11.  That win was CMU's first road win over the Rangers in 19 all-time games, including each of the last four RMAC Tournament Championship games.
 
CMU is 1-12 at home against the Rangers, claiming an overtime win on Apr. 23, 203, which allowed CMU to win a share of the RMAC crown.
 
Up Next
 
The Mavs will wrap up the regular season on the road playing at Fort Lewis next Thursday (Apr. 17) at 1 p.m. in Durango before heading East to face CSU Pueblo on Saturday (Apr. 19) in their regular season finale.

The Mavs posted 17-6 and 17-2 home wins over those foes last month.