THIS WEEK'S MATCHUPS

• The University of Colorado Colorado Springs women's lacrosse team heads East to Missouri this week to face No. 10 Grand Valley State University and Missouri Western State University.  Both games will be played at Craig Field at Spratt Memorial Stadium in St. Joseph, Mo.  The Mountain Lions will face the Lakers on Wednesday, March 9 at 10 a.m. (MT), followed by the Griffons on Friday at 12 p.m. (MT).

 
GAME COVERAGE

• Live Stats: https://gogriffons.com/sidearmstats/wlax/summary
• Live Stream: https://glvcsn.com/mwsu/

 
LAST TIME OUT

• The Mountain Lions last played on Feb. 21 against Regis University in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference opener.  UCCS fell in the match, 18-4.  

• Regis scored a plethora of goals to open the first quarter and jumped to a 7-0 lead in the first 13 minutes.  Natalie Church put the Mountain Lions on the scoreboard when she took a pass from Aliyah Weant to cut into Regis' lead, 7-1.  After two goals to open the second quarter, the Mountain Lions poured on three straight goals from Kyer Frederick, Hannah Koopal and Chloe Harding in a span of four minutes, cutting the Rangers lead down to six, 10-4.  The Rangers were able to squeeze in more goal before halftime to take an 11-4 lead at intermission.  The Rangers held UCCS scoreless in the second half and held a 7-0 goal and 13-7 shots advantage in the final 30 minutes of play.
• Koopal led the Mountain Lions in shots (four), shots on goal (three) and caused turnovers (three).  Julia Patrick won a game high four draws and added one shot on goal.  Goalkeeper Madison McGriff picked up a game high five ground balls and played 45 minutes between the posts, making six saves.
• The Mountain Lions were outshot, 32-18, and outdrawn, 20-15.  UCCS edged the Rangers in ground balls, 20-19, with eight ground balls coming in the second stanza.

RMAC RECORD/STANDINGS

• Colorado Mesa University opened their season this past weekend winning both matches against Adams State University and Fort Lewis College to go 2-0 overall and in league matches.  Regis is tied with CMU for the league lead with a 3-0 overall record and a 1-0 mark in the league.
• Fort Lewis and Westminster College are tied for second in the league after starting their season this past weekend going 1-1. 
• Colorado State University Pueblo has yet to play a league match this season but are 0-2 after playing their first games of the season this past weekend in Missouri.
• The Mountain Lions and Grizzlies are tied for sixth with 0-1 and 0-2 league records, respectively.

 
THE SERIES

• Vs. GVSU: Wednesday's game will be the first matchup in program history between the Mountain Lions and Lakers.
• Vs. MWSU: UCCS is 1-0 against the Griffins. The Mountain Lions defeated MWSU at home last season, 19-13, on March 19.

 
SCOUTING THE LAKERS

• Grand Valley State enters the week ranked No. 10 in the latest IWLCA Division II poll (March 10) with a 3-1 overall record.  The Lakers suffered their first loss of the season last Friday to No. 2 Indianapolis, 14-8.  GVSU will face off against Missouri Western Tuesday night at 6 p.m. (MT) before taking on the Mountain Lions Wednesday morning.
• Through four games this season, the Lakers rank in the Top 15 in Division II in turnovers per game (sixth, 11.5), draw controls per game (10^th, 18.5), saves percentage (11^th, .568) and scoring margin (13^th, 9.00).  GVSU is averaging 15.3 goals per game while allowing 9.8 goals per game. 
• Pacing the Lakers is junior midfielder Molly Bursinger with 16 goals and 18 points and a team high 36 draws and seven caused turnovers.  One point behind Bursinger is graduate student Sophie Conroy with 12 goals and five assists.  Defending the goal is sophomore Audrey Maloney who has played in all four games, allowing 33 goals for an 11.00 goals against average in 180 minutes between the posts, while also stopping 35 shots on goal for a .515 saves percentage.

 
SCOUTING THE GRIFFONS

• In just their second year as a varsity program, the Griffons tallied their first win of the season this past Saturday with a home win over Colorado State Pueblo, 14-7.  Missouri Western finished their inaugural season with a 5-8 record and a 3-4 mark in MIAA games.
• Sophomore attacker Madison Brady leads the team with 10 goals, two assists, 12 points, 19 shots and she scored the game-winning goal against the ThunderWolves.  Senior Amani Robinson has won a team high seven draws and is second on the team in points (six) and goals (five).  Between the posts in sophomore Mackenzie Porter who has played all 180 minutes defending the goal.  Porter has saved 31 shots and allowed 34 goals for an 11.36 goals against average.
• Through three games, MWSU has scored 34 goals while allowing an even 34 goals by their opponents.  The Griffons have converted 10-of-21 free position attempts and won 34 draws.

 
HOT TAKES

• Natalie Church needs one goal to become the solo all-time goal-scoring leader in program history.  She is currently tied with Kiera Lowe (2018-21) with 90 goals.  Church is the all-time leader in points (143), assists (53) and draws (271).
• 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 52 career games and needs to compete in two more to overtake Madison Ellis' program leading 53 games.  Malcolm is tied with Ellis for most career starts (50).
• The Mountain Lions have played four times in the state of Missouri when former RMAC Associate Members Lindenwood and Rockhurst were part of the league in women's lacrosse.  UCCS went 0-2 in the Show-Me state in 2017 and 2019.

 
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

• At first draw on Wednesday morning, the temperature will be at 35 degrees under partly cloudy skies with winds coming out of the Northeast at nine miles per hour.  Friday's game will dip below freezing with the high only reaching 26 degrees.

 
UPCOMING GAMES

• The Mountain Lions will return home to begin a five-game home stand, beginning March 17 against Rockhurst 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.