THIS WEEK'S MATCHUP

• The University of Colorado Colorado Springs women's lacrosse team will open the 2022 season at home against Concordia University, St. Paul on Sunday, Feb. 6 at 1 p.m.

 
GAME COVERAGE

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

 
SEASON OUTLOOK

• UCCS was picked to finish third in the 2022 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Women's Lacrosse Preseason Coaches' Poll.  The Mountain Lions received 26 points and one first-place vote in the seven-team league.
• The Mountain Lions finished the 2021 season with an 8-4 overall record and 4-3 record in league games.  UCCS earned the No. 3 seed in the RMAC Championship Tournament, marking the second time in program history the team has qualified for the conference tournament.

 
RMAC PRESEASON PLAYERS TO WATCH

• A senior midfielder from Snohomish, Wash., Natalie Church begins her fifth season with the Mountain Lions in 2022.  A three-time RMAC All-Academic First Team selection, an All-RMAC Second Team honoree and named to the RMAC Honorable Mention team twice, Church led the team last season in game-winning goals (two), free position goals (nine) and tied for the most caused turnovers (14).  The 2018 RMAC Freshman of the Year, Church won 26 draws on the season, the second most on the team.  She finished 2021 with 22 goals and seven assists for 29 points while recording a hat trick six times.  Church ranked 10th in the league in caused turnovers per game (1.40).
• Voted to the 2021 RMAC All-Tournament Team, sophomore goalkeeper Madison McGriff (Lakewood, Colo.) led the RMAC in save percentage (.514) and ranked second in saves per game (10.33) and eighth in goals against average (14.38) last season.  A RMAC All-Academic Honor Roll selection, McGriff set a program record for most saves in a game (19) against CSU Pueblo on April 28, and again in the RMAC semifinal match against Colorado Mesa on May 7.
• Entering her fifth season with the Mountain Lions, defender Morgan Miller (Colorado Springs, Colo.) started all nine games she competed in last season.  Named to the RMAC Honorable Mention team and to the RMAC All-Academic Honor Roll for the third time, Miller picked up 15 ground balls, including a season high three ground balls in four different games.  She caused a season high three turnovers at Fort Lewis on March 21 and again at home against CSU Pueblo on April 28.

 
RMAC PRESEASON STANDINGS

• Defending conference champions Regis University is the favorite to win the league. The Rangers collected six first-place votes for 36 points. RU finished last season 14-2 overall and a perfect 8-0 in RMAC games, leading to a No. 3 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
• Colorado Mesa University edged the Mountain Lions by just three points to finish second in the preseason poll.  CMU closed out the 2021 with a No. 25 IWLCA Division II ranking and a 9-5 record (7-1 RMAC).

 
THE SERIES

• Sunday's game will be only the second time the Mountain Lions and Golden Bears have faced each other.  CSP won the inaugural meeting on Feb. 13, 2020, 13-1 in St. Paul, Minn.

 
SCOUTNING CONCORDIA ST. PAUL

• Concordia, St. Paul is under the direction of first-year head coach Ali Jennings.
• The Golden Bears, who compete in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC), are scheduled to open the season on Friday against Regis University inside Mountain Lion Stadium.
• CSP finished the 2021 season fourth out of five teams in the GLIAC, owning a 2-6 conference mark (3-7 overall).
• The Golden Bears started the season winning three of their first four games but ended 2021 losing their final six games.
• Concordia, St. Paul returns their top offensive and defensive threats. Sophomore attacker Molly Moynihan led the team in points (26), goals (15), shots (31) and shots on goal (28). Defending the goal is sophomore goalkeeper Maddy Huebner who picked up a team high 29 ground balls last season.  Huebner went 2-6 in goal with eight starts, a 13.65 goals against average, 72 saves and a .396 saves percentage.

 
HOT TAKES

• UCCS is entering their sixth year as a NCAA program in 2022. 
• Head coach Melissa Rausch begins her third season with the Mountain Lions and her first season as the head coach.
• UCCS led the RMAC last season in shots per game (36.8), shots on goal per game (29.2) and saves percentage (.502, 143 goals allowed, 144 saves).
• The Mountain Lions were second overall in the RMAC in goals per game (14.7), assists per game (6.9), points per game (24.2), saves per game (12.00), and third in goals against average (11.9).
• The Mountain Lions return 18 letterwinners from last year's team: Antonia Batuello, Avery Beck-Davis, Natalie Church, Chloe Harding, Kyer Frederick, Hannah Koopal, Kathryn Kossack, Sydney Malcolm, Anna Markham, Grace Martinez, Madison McGriff, Morgan Miller, Audrey Napp, Angela Naughton, Regan Olson, Julia Patrick, Holly Sodomka, and Aliyah Weant. 
• UCCS welcomes nine new members to the program: Annalise Carr, Morgan Cox, Phoebe Estrada, Olivia Evans, Ava Goodnature, Sydney Hardy, Sydney Moreno, Sarah Watts and Meghan Weiss.
• Four Mountain Lions return from last year's RMAC Honorable Mention Team: Church, Malcolm, Miller and Napp.

 
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.

 
UPCOMING GAMES

• The Mountain Lions will return to competition on Feb. 23 when they open the RMAC season at home against Regis University.

 
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.