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PREVIEW | Women's Soccer to Square Off with Colorado Mesa in South Central Regional Final

11/28/2023 5:07:00 PM

By: Jake Ross, Assistant Sports Information Director
THIS WEEK'S MATCHUP
  • The University of Colorado Colorado Springs women's soccer team powered past a very talented Dallas Baptist University team in the second round of the NCAA Tournament, handing the Patriots their first loss of the season in a 4-2 match.
  • The Colorado Mesa University Mavericks face an RMAC rival for the second straight week, having ousted Colorado School of Mines in the second round grabbing a 1-0 overtime win. 
GAME COVERAGE TICKETS
  • Ticket prices are set at $10 for adults, $5 for Seniors and Students and children under 18 are free. Tickets can be purchased online here.
ROCKY MOUNTAIN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE NETWORK
  • Fans unable to attend in-person will be able to watch the match on the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Network. There is a direct link to the broadcast here, and can also be accessed by clicking the watch button on the women's soccer schedule page. The broadcast will be free of charge.
2023 REGULAR SEASON IN REVIEW
  • The Mountain Lions had a slow start to the year going 0-2-1 in their opening three matches, but a 5-1 home win over Southwestern Oklahoma State University ignited their season as they captured a 2-0-1 record on the back half of the non-conference schedule.
  • UCCS carried their momentum into the start of conference play, winning their first six matches of the RMAC portion of the schedule.
  • A draw in Denver against Regis University and a home loss to then #6 Colorado Mesa was the first adversity the Mountain Lions faced, but they responded with a vengeance, finishing the year with four consecutive wins, outscoring their opponents 9-0 in their final four matches.
NCAA SELECTION SHOW
  • UCCS grabbed the #4 seed in the 2023 NCAA Division II Women's Soccer Championships, trailing Dallas Baptist, Colorado School of Mines, and Colorado Mesa for the top three seeds.
  • The top six teams from each region earned a bid to the NCAA DII Women's Soccer Championship beginning Thursday. UCCS is a member of the South-Central Region which is comprised of the RMAC out of Colorado and Lone Star Conference out of Texas.
  • The final two seeds were claimed by St. Mary's University at #5, who faced UCCS in the first round, and Texas Woman's University at #6 who faced #3 Colorado Mesa in the first round in Golden, Colorado.
RMAC LEADERS
  • The Mountain Lions allowed the second fewest goals in the RMAC, only conceding eleven goals in their eighteen regular season matches. The only team in the conference with fewer was Colorado School of Mines who gave up just eight goals in the same number of matches. Their 11 clean sheets also ranked second in the conference behind the Orediggers. Despite their second-place finish in goals allowed, UCCS was tied for sixth in the conference in saves, which is a testament to the lockdown defense the backline was able to provide throughout the season.
  • UCCS was among the elite scoring squads this fall as well, checking in with the fourth most goals in the RMAC with 36. Colorado School of Mines scored the most with 52, and Regis (50) and Colorado Mesa (42) bridged the at 2nd and 3rd most. Individually, Makayla Merlo lead the Mountain Lions with seven goals, including the game winner against CSU Pueblo which clinched the RMAC regular season title for UCCS, a mark that earned her sixth most of RMAC players. Merlo's four game winning goals is second most in the conference, only CMU's Sauvelyne Randel has more with five.
  • On the wing Fie Steenberg has been a creator for UCCS this season, holding a tie for the fourth most assists in the conference with six. Anna Vince also sits in the top ten of that category with her four helpers, which has her tied for ninth.
  • In frame, UCCS' Isabella Whitmore has been a wall this season. Her .444 Shutouts Per Game is the best of any keeper in the conference, as she sits third in Goals Against Average (.67) and third in saves with 55 (.825 Save %).
RMAC AWARDS
  • This fall saw three Mountain Lions bring home Player of the Week selections, with Isabella Whitmore earning two Goalkeeper of the Week highlights, and Jade Kinsey earning two Defensive Player of the Week honors. Makayla Merlo took home the Offensive Player of the Week honor in the final week of the regular season for her only weekly honor this year.
  • Six Mountain Lions brought home All-Conference distinctions highlighted by Isabella Whitmore being named RMAC Goalkeeper of the Year and Head Coach J. B. Belzer being named Coach of the Year. Whitmore, Jade Kinsey, Makayla Merlo, and Fie Steenberg garnered All-RMAC First Team selections, with Abby Barhydt and Emily Aguilar being named to the Second Team.
ALL-TIME SERIES
  • UCCS and CMU have faced off 19 times historically on the women's soccer pitch, Mesa holds the upper hand winning ten games with UCCS only winning seven, while they also share two draws. The Mountain Lions and Mavericks have traded wins in their last four match ups, each having two wins and two losses in that stretch.
SCOUTING THE MAVERICKS
  • Colorado Mesa had a very strong showing in the regular season this year, holding a commanding 13-3-1 record entering the postseason.
  • The Mavericks are riding a six game winning streak, which dates back to November 1st, when they defeated the Westminster Griffins 3-1 in the final regular season match. Since then, they have won the RMAC conference tournament, and eliminated both Texas Woman's University and Colorado School of Mines from the national title race.
  • The Mavericks offense is led by redshirt junior forward Sauvelyne Randel who owns 15 goals, including one in each of the team's first two NCAA tournament games, both were the only goal scored in their respective games.
  • Colorado Mesa's net is guarded by freshman Keely Wieczorek who hasn't allowed a goal in four straight contests, with the last opponent to score being MSU Denver who lost to CMU 3-2 in the RMAC Tournament Semifinal.  
HISTORY IN THE MAKING
  • After recording a hat trick in the Mountain Lions match at Dallas Baptist, redshirt senior Kaitlin Hinkle moved into second in program history for goals scored with 30 career strikes. She also earned her 70th career point, which also moves her into second in the program for all-time points.
  • Redshirt senior defender Jade Kinsey captured the all-time program lead for minutes played with 5,966 career minutes. She also ranks second all time in both games played and games started, with 85 games played and 69 games started.
  • Playing in her final season as a Mountain Lion, redshirt junior Makayla Merlo ranks in the top ten in program history for goals (5th with 22), assists (tied 8th 10), points (6th with 54), shots (3rd with 152), and shots on goal (5th with 70).
  • In just her first season in Colorado Springs, graduate goalkeeper Isabella Whitmore has already put her name in the record book as she ranks 9th all-time in saves with 61, 3rd all-time in goals against average at 0.76, and she checks in 3rd all-time in clean sheets with her 8 this season, needing just three more to tie the season record of 11 set by Alexis Walker last fall.
UCCS UNDER HEAD COACH J. B. Belzer
  • Head coach J. B. Belzer is in his fourth season as the UCCS skipper holding a 55-13-7 record in his time in the Springs. Belzer is in his 28th season in the RMAC after spending 24 years at Regis University in Denver. Overall Belzer owns an impressive 371-159-44 record on his career between Regis and UCCS, owning the eighth most wins out of active Division II coaches. He has the 15th most wins in the history of Division II women's soccer.
  • During his time at UCCS Belzer has guided the Mountain Lions to a regular season title in three out of his four seasons, with one RMAC tournament championship in 2021.
  • The Mountain Lions have qualified for the NCAA national championship tournament in every season Belzer has coached at UCCS, with the lone exception being in 2020 when the championship tournament was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The 2021 season was the most successful NCAA tournament run for the Mountain Lions under Belzer, who made it into the final 16 teams before falling to Dallas Baptist 1-0 in Texas.
WEATHER
  • The forecast for Thursday evening for campus at Colorado Mesa University calls for a 10 percent chance of showers after 5 p.m. Mostly cloudy weather with a daytime high near 42 degrees and an east southwest wind of 5 mph.
UP NEXT
  • The winner of the South Central Final match up between the Mountain Lions and Mavericks will advance to the 2023 NCAA Division II Quarterfinals and play the winner of Point Loma Nazarene and Seattle Pacific University on Saturday at 4 p.m.
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