COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Four Mountain Lions tallied hat tricks propelling the University of Colorado Colorado Springs women's lacrosse team to their first win of the season. UCCS claimed a 20-13 win over Lewis University Friday afternoon in the Mountain Lions home opener.
INSIDE THE MATCHUP
Final: UCCS 20, Lewis 13
Records: UCCS (1-5, 0-0 RMAC), Lewis (3-3, 0-0 GLVC)
Facility | Location: Mountain Lion Stadium | Colorado Springs, Colo.
All-Time Series: Friday's match was the first meeting between the two teams.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- UCCS dominated the opening stanza with an offensive attack that resulted in five straight goals. Erica Rivera put the Mountain Lions on the scoreboard on a free-position goal just 64 seconds into the game. Rivera then won the draw control that led to Julia Patrick's first goal of the game from Ava Goodnature's assist. The Mountain Lion took advantage of playing with an extra player on the field as Allie Schell notched her first goal of the match. Immediately following Schell's goal, Patrick won the third draw of the contest for UCCS before taking a pass from Peyton Ross to boost UCCS' lead to 4-0, less than four minutes from the opening draw. After assisting Patrick on her second goal of the game, Ross chipped in the Mountain Lions fifth straight goal of the first quarter.
- Lewis' Meltonique Bowen went to work quickly for the Flyers, winning the ensuing draw and marching down the field to put Lewis on the board, 5-1. Schell collected her second straight player-up goal on a free-position shot, directly followed by Patrick's draw control that led to a free-position score. Brielle Fannin joined in on the scoring action, becoming the fifth Mountain Lion to net a goal in the opening stanza as UCCS controlled an 8-3 lead after 15 minutes of action.
- The Flyers turned up the heat in the second quarter, outscoring UCCS 4-1. Patrick and the Mountain Lions took advantage of the Flyers third yellow card of the game as Patrick found the back of the for UCCS' lone goal of the quarter.
- Leading 9-7 to start the third quarter, Fannin and Rivera (free-position) started the second half off, combining to net three goals and extend the home team's lead to five goals, 12-7. The Flyers reciprocated on a Mountain Lions yellow card, scoring a free-position, player-up goal at 6:23 as one of their two goals in the quarter. Schell put a bow on the quarter when she fired off a shot with one tick left on the clock after taking a pass from Fannin, extending UCCS' lead back to five goals, 14-9.
- Both teams traded goals to start the final quarter before UCCS rattled off four straight scores from Brennan Kelly (player-up goal), Patrick and two from Fannin. Kelly added the final goal of the game for UCCS on a free-position attempt, sealing the win for the Mountain Lions, 20-13.
STATS FROM THE GAME
- Fannin led both teams with seven points behind a game high five goals and a game high two assists. She also attempted seven shots, the most by either team.
- Patrick matched Fannin's goal production with five and chipped in six shots.
- All four of Schell's shot attempts landed on goal as Rivera added three goals on seven shots.
- Goalie Madison McGriff notched her first win in goal this season after making 11 saves and picking up a game high three ground balls.
- Kyer Frederick caused a turnover and added two ground balls to lead the defensive unit in front of the net.
- Meltonique Bowen paced the Flyers with 10 shots and five goals.
- The Mountain Lions edged Lewis in shots (34-30), saves (11-7), and ground balls (11-9).
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
- The last time the Mountain Lions scored 20 or more goals was April 30, 2022, in a 21-7 win at Westminster College.
- Friday's game was highlighted by several breakout performances, featuring career highs from Kelly (two goals), Fannin (five goals, seven assists), Schell (four goals) and Rivera (three goals, three points, seven shots and five shots on goal).
- As a team, the Mountain Lion posted season highs in points (25), goals (20), assists (five), shots (34), shots on goal (27) and clears (21).
- Six of the Mountain Lions goals today were scored from the free position, and four goals were scored with UCCS playing with an extra player on field. Rivera and Patrick each converted on two free-position goals.
- Patrick charted her third hat trick of the season as freshman Fannin posted her first career hat trick at UCCS.
UP NEXT
- The Mountain Lions will return to action when they open the conference season on March 24 at Regis University.
SOCIAL
Twitter – @GoMountainLions
Instagram – @gomountainlions
Facebook – GoMountainLions
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.
