GRAND JUNCTION, Colo.- In a rematch of last year's RMAC Championship, the Colorado Mesa University women's soccer team will match up against the Colorado School of Mines Orediggers in this year's iteration of the RMAC Championship.
The championship will kick off at 4 p.m. inside the Regis Turf Fields. Tickets will be available on the RMAC website.
The game will also be livestreamed on the RMAC Network and will have live stats available.
Last Time Out
The Mavs faced the top-seeded Regis Rangers in the RMAC semifinals, where they won 2-1, handing the Rangers their first RMAC loss of the season.
Ellie Duncan and Parker Mairs both scored while Jenelle Arenibas and Olivia Bariao-Arce earned assists.
Tournament Format/Results
Friday, Oct. 30
#7 Westminster vs. #8 Colorado Christian 2-1
Sunday, Nov. 1
#4 Colorado Mesa vs. #5 Fort Lewis 1-0 (OT)
#2 UCCS vs. #7 Westminster 3-1
#3 Colorado School of Mines vs. #6 Black Hills State 2-1
Wednesday, Nov. 4
#1 Regis vs. #4 Colorado Mesa 1-2
#2 UCCS vs. #3 Colorado School of Mines 0-1
Saturday, Nov. 7
#4 Colorado Mesa vs. #3 Colorado School of Mines 4 p.m.
The tournament consists of the top eight teams in the RMAC, all earning a spot in the tournament based off points.
The winner of this tournament will receive an automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament, which will begin on Nov. 12. The selection show for the NCAA Tournament will be on Nov. 9.
In terms of the region, six teams from the South-Central region will get a bid to the dance. This includes the winners of the RMAC and Lone Star Conference tournaments as well as four other at-large bids determined by the NPI Rankings.
RMAC Honors
The RMAC named their All-RMAC squads and major awards on Nov. 3, with six Mavs being honored.
Olivia Barrett, Sarah Dunn and Mari Ige were named to the First Team with Duncan being the lone Mav on the Second Team. Keely Wieczorek and Mairs were named to the Honorable Mention squad as well.
The Summit Award was given to Kylie Hoffman for her achievements on the field and in the classroom. This award is given to the student-athlete with the highest cumulative GPA who is competing at the finals site of their sport's RMAC championship.
Mavs History in the Playoffs
CMU has been competing in the RMAC Tournament since 1996 and have made 25 appearances. They've won the regular season title five times and the tournament itself twice, with the last time being in 2023. They will look to earn that elusive third title against Colorado School of Mines.
The Mavs have also appeared in the NCAA Tournament seven times and have a record of 5-6-1 in the dance. Their best result came in 2023 when they made it to the third round.
What's At Stake
These two teams are very familiar with each other as they will play each other for the 32nd time, however the Mavs have only beaten them seven times.
The last time these two teams played was all the way back on Oct. 16, where the Mavs earned a 1-0 win with the only goal being off an Ella Speerschneider penalty kick.
The Mavs are in their seventh RMAC final with a chance to win the third title in program history. They will now have an opportunity to avenge last year's defeat at the hands of the Colorado School of Mines.
The Orediggers were last year's champions and will look to win their third straight RMAC title and 12th overall.
The winner of this match will get an automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament, while the loser will have to hope for an at-large bid.
The Numbers
The Mavs have started off their postseason campaign on a roll, beating two defensive-minded teams in Fort Lewis and Regis to claim their spot in the final. The offense has been a bright spot so far, as the team has scored 29 times this season and are scoring 1.53 goals per game. They've seen great offensive production from Duncan, Bariao-Arce, Mairs and Arenibas.
The offense is supported by Katie Lozano-Monjaraz, Brooklyn Baird, Katelyn Romano, Angelina Kazinec and Vanessa Pirrello.
The defense has once again been one of the best in the RMAC, allowing 13 goals this season, which is third-best in the RMAC. They allow 0.68 goals per game, which is also third-best in the RMAC.
Barrett, who is a two-time RMAC Defender of the Week, leads the defense alongside Dunn, Speerschneider and Hoffman. Savanah Miller, Averi Larson and Mari Ige in the midfield have contributed to this stout defense as well.
Wieczorek rounds out the defense as she has 59 saves on 147 shots faced, good for a save percentage of 0.819. She still leads the RMAC in shutouts with ten.
The Mavs will have to excel in both offense and defense in order to take home the title.
About Colorado School of Mines
The Orediggers find themselves in the exact same spot as they did last year, facing a really good Mavs squad in the RMAC final.
They will look to repeat the success they had last year and win their third straight RMAC title.
The offense is led by RMAC Player of the Year Bella Campos, who has scored a nation-leading 28 goals and will look to add to an RMAC-leading goal total of 58 in the final.
Campos is supported by RMAC Defender of the Year Natalie Rouse, who has scored seven goals and leads a defense that has given up 19 goals.
Bella Torres, Finley Ewald, Lindsey Jeans, Gaby Guerrero and Jordan Bowermaster have been an amazing supporting cast thus far and will look to continue the success in this match.
