THIS WEEK'S MATCHUP

• Wednesday's University of Colorado Colorado Springs women's lacrosse match with Hendrix College at Mountain Lion Stadium will mark the first time the two teams have played each other.  Wednesday's game will start at 1 p.m.  Due to inclement weather, today's conference match against Colorado State University Pueblo has been postponed to Tuesday, March 29 at 1 p.m.

 
GAME COVERAGE

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

 
LAST TIME OUT

• Nine different players recorded a point for UCCS as balanced scoring led to an 18-10 home win over Rockhurst University last Wednesday afternoon, making it the first time in program history the Mountain Lions have defeated Rockhurst.  The Mountain Lions out-shot the Hawks, 36-27, including an 11-4 second quarter performance. 
• Julia Patrick, Annalise Carr, Angela Naughton and Natalie Church each recorded hat tricks.  Patrick and Naughton added three assists each to lead the team with six points.  Audrey Napp also had a multi-assist game (two) to bring her game total to three points. Hannah Koopal came off the bench to score two goals, one of which was a free-position goal.  Holly Sodomka posted a game high four caused turnovers to go with her three draws and goal. Madison McGriff played all 60 minutes in goal, making nine saves and earning her second win of the season.

 
RMAC RECORD/STANDINGS

• Colorado Mesa University (2-0, 2-0 RMAC) and Regis University (6-0, 2-0 RMAC) remain on top of the RMAC standings.  Tied for third place is Fort Lewis College (1-3, 1-1 RMAC) and Westminster College (1-3, 1-1 RMAC).  With just one league game in the books, the ThunderWolves and Mountain Lions share the fifth spot in the standings with 0-1 records. Adams State University is also searching for their first win as they are 0-2 on the season (0-2 RMAC).

 
THE SERIES

• This will be the first time both teams will play each other.

 
SCOUTING THE WARRIORS

• Hendrix College is a NCAA Division III school located in Conway, Ark.  The Warriors are slated to play today at Colorado College before taking on the Mountain Lions on Wednesday. 
• HC begins the week with an 0-6 record and a 0-3 record in the Southern Athletic Association.  The Warriors have been outscored 125-24, scoring an average of six goals per game.  WC is shooting the ball at a 35.8 percent rate, landing 24 of their 67 shot attempts in goal.
• Sophomore midfielder Lilah Biggers has scored over half of Hendrix' goals, netting 13 of the team's 24 goals.  She has also assisted on a team high five goals for 18 points, while taking a team high 30 shots.  Junior attacker Brenna Kuenzi owns the circle, winning 29 of the Warriors 61 draws.  Junior goalkeeper Alexis Williams has picked up a team high 15 ground balls and has played in five of HC's six games.  She has made 68 saves and owns a 39.3 saves percentage to go with a 20.00 goals against average.

 
HOT TAKES

• Goalie Madison McGriff is second all-time for most wins in program history.  She is tied with Emma Becker's seven career wins as McGriff improves to 7-6 all-time.
• Four days after recording her first career win at UCCS, head coach Melissa Rausch earned her first career home win for UCCS, leading the Mountain Lions to an 18-10 victory of Rockhurst.
• Natalie Church is the all-time program leader in points (159), goals (97), assists (52), free-position goals (27) and draws (286).
• McGriff is third all-time in the record books with 149 saves and needs 42 more saves to tie Kennedy Travis for most career saves.  She is all just three wins away from becoming the all-time leader in wins. 
• Naughton is one of the top offensive weapons in program history, ranking in the top five in the career record books.  She is second all-time in free-position goals (20), fourth in points (107), goals (73), assists (34), shots (181) and shots on goal (128).

 
AWARD WINNERS

• Senior midfielder Natalie Church and sophomore goalkeeper Madison McGriff were named the RMAC Women's Lacrosse Players of the Week on Monday, March 14 after the Mountain Lions returned home from a split in St. Joseph, Mo. against No. 10 Grand Valley State (L, 8-7) and Missouri Western State (W, 14-7).   Church finished the week with four goals and six assists for 10 points, along with five shots, 10 draws, three caused turnovers and three ground balls. In the process, she became the all-time leader in goals scored, and set a new single game record for most assists in a game (five vs. MWSU).  McGriff finished the week with 18 saves, 12 goals allowed and a 6.43 goals against average.  Her 10 saves against the Lakers marked a season high for the Mountain Lions.

 
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

• Wednesday will feature sunny skies with gusty winds and a high of 51 degrees.  Winds will be coming out of the NNW at 20 to 30 mph and gusting up to 40 mph.

 
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

• The Mountain Lions will play host to Colorado State Pueblo on Tuesday, March 29, before taking on Westminster on April 1 and Colorado Mesa on April 3.  All three games will begin at 1 p.m. inside Mountain Lion Stadium.

 
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.