COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Despite a late push from the Westminster University Griffins, the University of Colorado Colorado Springs women's lacrosse team earned the 16-12 victory at Mountain Lion Stadium to open conference play.
INSIDE THE MATCHUP
- Final Score: UCCS 16, WU 12
- Records: UCCS (4-1, 1-0 RMAC) | WU (3-3, 0-1 RMAC)
- Facility | Location: Mountain Lion Stadium | Colorado Springs, Colo.
- All-Time Series: The Mountain Lions improve to 7-5 all-time against the Griffins.
HOW IT HAPPENED
FIRST QUARTER: UCCS 3, WU 1
- Sofia Watts got things started at the 13:49 mark of the game after she took a pass from Erica Rivera and beat Kaelyn Hart in the Westminster net to give the Mountain Lions the first lead of the game. Just 1:02 later, the Griffins evened the score at one when Jordan Williamson netted her fifteenth goal of the season, but the strike would be the only tally of the period for WU. Allie Schell restored the lead for the Mountain Lions at the 11:29 mark with Rylie Maready picking up the helper on the play. The offense would cool for the Mountain Lions as the hosts would require seven minutes to find the net again, but with 4:09 to go in the opening frame it was Sydnee-Anne Moeller who broke the silence to push the lead to two for UCCS.
SECOND QUARTER: UCCS 4, WU 2
- After nearly five and a half minutes of scoreless action to begin the second quarter, Sarah Urbanic joined the scoresheet when she buried her 20th of the year off a pass from Brennan Kelly. Grace Szwedko would grab a goal back for the Griffins thirty seconds later to cut the lead back down to two for UCCS, but the Mountain Lions responded with three unanswered from Rylie Maready, Erica Rivera, and Sofia Watts to give UCCS the commanding lead at 7-2. With 2:37 to play before the halftime intermission, Riley Weldon kept the Griffins alive as she claimed her first of the year off the Westminster clearance to pull the Griffins within four. Time would run out on the first half as the score remained 7-3 as UCCS hit the break in control at Mountain Lion Stadium.
THIRD QUARTER: UCCS 3, WU 3
- Westminster attempted a comeback in the second half, scoring the first goal of the half, but gave it right back as UCCS netted their first of the half just forty seconds later. The back-and-forth continued when WU netted another just thirty seconds later as the Griffins looked determined to get back into the contest. The momentum continued for the visitors when they netted their third of the period at the 7:54 mark to cut the UCCS to just two goals. At 4:50 it appeared that the Griffins had pulled within a goal, but their strike would be disallowed due to a crease violation, which UCCS took advantage of with a goal on the other end of the field just over a minute later. UCCS then added a third goal to restore their four-goal lead with just over two minutes to play in the quarter for the final tally of the third.
FOURTH QUARTER: UCCS 5, WU 2
- The Griffins struck quickly in the final quarter of play when Grace Szwedko added another goal for the Griffins, bringing the score to 10-7 in favor of UCCS. The momentum wouldn't last for WU though, as again UCCS embarked on a run of three straight goals with Erica Rivera netting a pair, and Allie Schell notching her second of the game as well. The run would end with a Griffin goal off a free position at the 8:47 mark, but again, UCCS responded with back-to-back goals with Sofia Watts and Rylie Maready scoring 38 seconds apart to push the lead to seven. WU would outscore the Mountain Lions 4-1 with less than two minutes to play to make things interesting, but the effort was too little, too late as UCCS took the victory Friday afternoon in Colorado Springs.
FINAL SCORE: UCCS 10, WU 6
GAME STATISTICS
- Sofia Watts paced the Mountain Lions offense with 4 goals, as Sarah Urbanic acted as the facilitator with three assists.
- Four Mountain Lions were firing at the net at all opportunities, with Rylie Maready, Watts, and Urbanic all finishing with four shots on goal.
- Jordyn Nunez was solid in net, making 10 saves on her way to the victory for UCCS.
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
- The Mountain Lions recorded season highs in points (27), assists (11), and ground balls (35) versus Westminster this afternoon.
- Jordyn Nunez's 10 saves were a new season high for UCCS netminders this year, the total is a new career high for Nunez as well.
UP NEXT
- UCCS will return to the field on Sunday to take on Colorado Mesa at Mountain Lion Stadium at 12 p.m.
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As a member of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, the University of Colorado Colorado Springs competes in 14 varsity sports in NCAA Division II intercollegiate athletics.
