DURANGO, Colo.— The Colorado Mesa University women's lacrosse team took care of business on Thursday afternoon, scoring ten goals in the opening 20 minutes to implement a running clock before cruising to a 16-2 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference win over last place Fort Lewis College here at the Skyhawks' Ray Dennison Field.

Six different Mavericks scored two or more goals in the win that put the Mavs on the precipice of at least a share of the RMAC title and the No. 1 seed in next weeks' RMAC Tournament.

Now 9-5 overall and tied for first place with an 8-1 mark in RMAC play, the Mavs would clinch the co-championship with either a Regis loss at UCCS on Friday afternoon or by picking up a Saturday afternoon win at CSU Pueblo.  The Mavs will win the title outright if both things happen.

FLC fell for the tenth straight game and dropped to 1-14 overall and to 0-9 in the RMAC.

In Thursday's victory, Maverick freshman midfielder Cassidy Keykal made her first start and registered her first hat trick more than doubling her season goal total of two coming in with three.

She scored her first two just 91 seconds part early in the second quarter as the Mavs took a 10-0 lead with 10:59 remaining in the first half to initiate the running clock while also allowing the Maverick reserves to see lots of action.

Meanwhile, Justine Anderson, Ali Bryant, Sofia Chock, Cameron Flynn and Ella Freemon all scored twice while Courteney Murray, Kenzie Streby and Courtney Havel, the Mavs' top goal scorer, all added one.

The two goals allowed were also the fewest goals the Mavs have given up since a 19-1 win at CSU Pueblo just over two years ago on Apr. 16, 2023.

Bryant had her two goals just 1:44 apart in the game's first five minutes while Murray, Anderson, Flynn and Freemon all scored in the first quarter as the Mvs took a 6-0 lead through one period.
Chock and Anderson then scored in the first 2 ½ minutes of the second quarter before Keykal added her first two goals.

The Skyhawks would get on the scoreboard once in the second quarter through Piper Price with 5:32 left before the Mavs went on to score five more goals top open a 15-1 lead just 30 seconds into the fourth quarter.

The final team statistics were as lopsided as the score in some categories as the Mavs finished with a 46-15 advantage in total shots while winning 17 of the 23 draw controls.

The Mavs also successfully cleared 19 times out of 20 and forced the Skyhawks into 19 turnovers while scooping up 19 groundballs.

Heather Hawkins made four saves in net over the first three quarters while Susan Kirchhoff did not have to do much while playing in the fourth quarter.

Skyhawk starter Caley Lay made three saves but allowed six goals in the first quarter while Abigail Leighty made 13 saves while allowing ten goals in the remaining 45 minutes.

The Maverick defense allowed just 15 total shots, including seven on goal.  Sadie Chappuis had three groundballs and two caused turnovers to lead that effort.

Bryant, Avery Irlbeck and Kaylee Kittle all recorded three draw controls to pace the Mavs in that category.