THIS WEEK'S MATCHUP

• Tuesday will mark the second Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference game of the season for the University of Colorado Colorado Springs women's lacrosse team as they are set to host Colorado State University Pueblo.  UCCS will wrap up their five-game home stand this weekend when they play host to Westminster College on Friday and Colorado Mesa University on Sunday.  All three games are slated to start at 1 p.m. inside Mountain Lion Stadium.

 
GAME COVERAGE

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

 
LAST TIME OUT

• The Mountain Lions dominated Hendrix College Wednesday afternoon, taking the Warriors down, 19-1.  Seventeen different Mountain Lions scored at least one goal while six combined to dish out 16 assists.  Hannah Mill set a new program for most assists in a game as she accounted for a career high six assists.  As a team, UCCS also set game records for most points (35) and most assists (16). The Mountain Lions defense held Hendrix to only one shot in the first half as HC finished the game with seven shot attempts.

• The Mountain Lions were successful in eight of their nine clear attempts and won 17 of the 25 draws while picking up 34 ground balls.  Audrey Napp and Holly Sodomka each won four draws while Julia Patrick and Natalie Church snagged three each. The 19 goals scored are the fourth most in program history while the 34 ground balls are the third most.

 
RMAC RECORD/STANDINGS

• This week will mark the first time all seven RMAC teams are in action in the same week.  Colorado Mesa University (4-3, 2-0 RMAC) and No. 7 Regis University (7-0, 2-0 RMAC) remain on top of the RMAC standings.  Tied for third place is Fort Lewis College (1-5, 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

• Vs. CSUP: The Mountain Lions are 2-3 all-time against the ThunderWolves, winning both games last season.
• Vs. WC: Westminster owns a slight 3-2 edge over UCCS in the all-time series.  The Griffins won the last meeting, 18-14 on April 20, 2021 in Salt Lake City.  The last time the two teams played each other in Mountain Lion Stadium (March 5, 2021), UCCS was victorious, 20-11.
• Vs. CMU: The Mountain Lions are searching for their first win over the Mavericks as CMU has taken all four games.  The last time the two teams met was in the 2021 RMAC Tournament (L, 13-15).

 
SCOUTING THE THUNDERWOLVES

• Colorado State Pueblo starts the week owning an 0-5 record and 0-1 mark in league matches.  The ThunderWolves are coming off a near win from last week's match at home against McKendree but dropped a 19-18 decision.
• Baylee Mee leads the ThunderWolves offense with a team high 10 points, seven of which are assists, and a team high 25 draws.  The top goal sorcerer for the Pack is Ashley Hendricks (nine goals) who also leads the team with 22 shots.  Defending the goal is Annika Ponse who has played all but 20 minutes between the posts.  Ponse owns a 16.95 goals against average and a .455 saves percentage.  She has allowed 79 goals and made 66 saves in 280 minutes.
• The Pack are averaging 7.2 goals per game but are giving up 17 per game.  Eight of CSUP's 36 goals have come from the free position. 

 
SCOUTING THE GRIFFINS

• Before traveling to the Front Range, the Griffins will host No. 9 Lindenwood University tonight.  WC is currently 1-3 on the season with their lone win coming at home against Adams State University when they scored a season high 23 goals (W, 23-0).
• Maddie Kelleher has found the back of the net 11 times as part of a team high 13 points, while Lauren Shoughro has chipped in nine goals.  Kelleher leads the team in draws (24) and ground balls (nine) and is second in caused turnovers (five).  Hannah Bargeron and Gabriella Cheminant share time in goal.  Bargeron has played 165 of the 240 minutes this season, allowing 48 goals (17.45 GAA) and making 21 saves.
• The Griffins have been successful on 66 percent of their clears while causing 52 turnovers and edging their opponents in ground balls (54-50).  WC has barely been outscored in four games, netting 46 goals while surrendering 49.

 
SCOUTING THE MAVERICKS

• After winning their first three games of the season against Adams State, Fort Lewis and McKendree, the Mavericks have dropped three of their last four.  CMU went 1-2 in Florida last week, falling to Florida Southern College and Rollins before earning a 13-12 win at St. Leo.  CMU capped their fourth game in a week with an 18-6 home loss to Lindenwood on Sunday. 
• Three Mavericks have scored at least 11 goals in seven games.  Leading the squad is Kiley Davis with 18 goals, five assists, 23 points, 36 shots and two game-winning goals. Reagan Wentz has registered 14 goals and four assists while Taylor Jakeman has tallied 11 goals and five assists.  Three Mavericks have played in goal this season, but Shannon Murphy has collected six of the seven decisions, going 3-3-0.  Murphy has made 15 saves for a .246 saves percentage and allowed 46 goals as part of her 11.8 GAA.
• As a team, CMU is outscoring their opponents by more than one goal per game, netting 12.00 goals while giving up 10.71.  The Mavericks have netted 16 free-position goals and have won 101 of the 179 draws while causing 79 turnovers.

 
HOT TAKES

• Goalie Madison McGriff is tied with Emma Becker for most career wins (eight).  McGriff has 152 saves and needs 29 more to tie Becker for second most all time, and needs 39 more saves to tie Kennedy Travis for the all-time lead in saves.
• Natalie Church is the all-time program leader in points (159), goals (97), assists (52), free-position goals (27) and draws (286).
• 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), and fourth in points (109), goals (73), assists (36), shots (182) and shots on goal (128).
• UCCS leads the RMAC in assists per game (7.5) and ground balls per game (20.83), and they are second in points per game (20.00), scoring defense (9.67), scoring margin (2.83), and scoring offense (12.5).
• Church's 2.33 assists per game and 4.17 points per game lead all RMAC players.  She is second in the league in assists (14) and points (25).
• McGriff is one of the top goalies in the RMAC, ranking second in GAA (9.79), third in saves (37), fourth in save percentage (.420) and fifth in saves per game (6.17).

 
AWARD WINNERS

• Hannah Mill had a career day as she led the Mountain Lions to a 19-1 home win over Hendrix College on March 23, earning her the RMAC Offensive Player of the Week honoree.  In just her second game in a Mountain Lions uniform, Mill set a program record for most assists in a game as she finished with six.  Mill added two goals to bring her game total to eight points, the second most points ever recorded by a Mountain Lion in program history. 
• 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

• Tuesday's match will most likely be played in the rain and possible thunderstorms with winds coming out of the Northeast at 9 mph. This weekend's forecast against the Griffins and Mavericks is nearly identical, with temperatures reaching the high 50's under partly cloudy skies and winds coming out of the NNE at 10-15mph.

 
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 in a month when they travel Southwest to take on Fort Lewis College on April 8 at 1 p.m., followed by Sunday's match at Adams State University at 1 p.m.

 
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.