THIS WEEK'S MATCHUP

• The University of Colorado Colorado Springs women's lacrosse team will play their second game of the season at home on Monday, Feb. 21.  The Mountain Lions will play host to No. 9 Regis University at 1 p.m. in the first game of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference season.  Today's game was originally scheduled for Feb. 23 but has been moved up due to inclement weather that will be arriving midweek.

 
GAME COVERAGE

• Live Stream: https://rmacnetwork.com/gomountainlions/  
• Live Stats: https://gomountainlions.com/sidearmstats/wlax/summary

 
LAST TIME OUT

• The Mountain Lions played their first game of the 2022 season at home on Feb. 6 against Concordia University, St. Paul.  Playing in just their second overtime in program history, the Mountain Lions lost on a golden goal to the Golden Bears, 14-13, with eight seconds remaining in overtime.
• Audrey Napp and Natalie Church led the offense with three points each as both Mountain Lions recorded two goals and an assist.  Sarah Watts and Angela Naughton added two goals apiece.  Naughton tallied a game high seven shots and five shots on goal while Napp picked up a game high four ground balls and a team high six draws.  Mill tallied a team high five caused turnovers while Naughton added three.
• UCCS outshot the Golden Bears by 15, 42-27, including a 24-10 shot advantage in the first half.  The Mountain Lions also edged CSP in ground balls, 22-18, and committed five fewer turnovers, 18-23.

RMAC RECORD/STANDINGS

• The Mountain Lions (0-1) and Rangers (1-0) are the only two RMAC teams competing in the month of February.  Regis won their season-opener against the Golden Bears, 10-9, on Feb. 4.  Both teams will enter today's RMAC-opening match with one game played.

 
THE SERIES

• The Mountain Lions are aiming for their first win against Regis.  Since the inaugural meeting in 2017, the Rangers have won all six matches.

 
SCOUTING THE RANGERS

• Regis earned a 10-9 win against Concordia St. Paul on Feb. 4 on a neutral site field (Colorado College).  The Rangers, ranked No. 9 in the IWLCA preseason poll, are led by Kyleigh Peoples' four goals and nine shots.  A graduate student, Peoples is a two-time RMAC Attacker of the Year. Lily Ferguson and Hannah Krats have also tagged on two goals each.  Goalkeeper Brigit Goetsch earned her first win of the season after playing 30 minutes in goal.

 
HOT TAKES

• Head coach Melissa Rausch recorded her first game at the helm of the Mountain Lions on Feb. 4 against CU, St. Paul.
• The season-opening match against the Golden Bears was only the second overtime game in program history for UCCS.
• Church needs two goals to become the solo all-time goal-scoring leading in program history.  She is currently second in the record books with 89 goals behind Kiera Lowe's 90 goals (2018-21).  Church is the all-time leader in points (142), assists (53) and draws (269).
• Goalie Madison McGriff is three wins away from tying the all-time wins record.  She currently owns a 5-5 career record and is three wins shy of Kennedy Travis' eight wins.
• Sydney Malcolm has played in 51 career games and needs to compete in three more to overtake Madison Ellis' program leading 53 games.  Malcolm is tied with Ellis for most career starts (50).

 
UCCS UNDER HEAD COACH MELISSA RAUSCH

• Melissa Rausch begins her third year with the UCCS Mountain Lions women's lacrosse program, and her first season as the head coach in 2022.  As an assistant coach the past two years, she served as the recruiting coordinator, handling the recruiting efforts, hosting clinics and working with the scholarship budget.
• On the field, Rausch works with both offensive and defensive units.  Her primary focus is on the defensive end of the field.  After installing a new defense in 2021, the Mountain Lions decreased their opponents' efforts in goals against, shots, shot percentage, and shots on goal.

• Rausch, who joined UCCS from Nichols College, a Division III institution in Dudley, Mass., held the roles as Assistant Athletic Director, Head Women's Lacrosse Coach, and Assistant Men's Lacrosse Coach at Nichols College.

 
WEATHER

• An arctic cold front is moving into the area Tuesday morning but temperatures at game time today will be hovering around 50 degrees under mostly sunny skies.

 
ADMISSION AT UCCS HOME MATCHES

• General admission tickets will be available one hour before game time (cash only).
• Ticket Prices:
  • Adults: $10
  • Non-UCCS students (with student ID), children ages 13-17: $5
  • Military members, seniors (age 55+): $3
  • UCCS faculty, staff, students (with ID), children ages 0-12, UCCS Alumni Association members: Free

 
UPCOMING GAMES

• UCCS will play their first road games of the season March 9 and 11 when they travel to St. Joseph, Mo.  The Mountain Lions will face Grand Valley State University on March 9 in a neutral site game, before taking on host team Missouri Western State University on March 11.

 
SOCIAL

• Twitter - @GoMountainLions
• Instagram - @gomountainlions
• Facebook – Go Mountain Lions

 
As a member of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, the University of Colorado Colorado Springs competes in 16 varsity sports in NCAA Division II intercollegiate athletics.