The Mavericks fall 13-18 to the Lions in a tight contest that saw each respective squad have multiple players score four or more points.
Sophomore midfielders Lauren Wick and Kiley Davis each score three goals along with one assist. The No. 2 ranked Lindenwood University (LU) was led in scoring by Erin McGuire as finished the game with two goals and four assists.
“For us, rankings don’t matter, it definitely gets you pumped playing a team like that. We are just trying to stay consistent with our level and keep setting standards no matter who we play. So, it’s really about us getting better as we go through the year,” Head Coach Shannon McHale said.
Senior goalie Lule Mitchell finished the game with a career-high 16 saves against the Lions.
“I think she has embraced the changes that we’ve been trying to make in the past few months and she has been totally bought into trying to embrace those changes and just be more consistent with those changes. So, I think today was a good day for her to say that she has put into place the things that we are working on and she did well with those,” McHale said.
The Mavericks scored their first goal within the opening 39 seconds of the game as Wick buried one in the back of the net off a pass from sophomore midfielder Regan Wentz. Wick added to Colorado Mesa University’s (CMU) lead with 23:52 left in the first half.
LU scored their first goal of the game a minute later, but junior attacker Ashton Whittle answered with a goal of her own to extend CMU’s lead back to two points.
The Lion’s offense kicked into gear as they scored six unanswered goals to take a 7-3 lead to give them some momentum. CMU didn’t shy away either as they were able to finish the half outscoring the Lion three to two.
“I think we made some really great in-game adjustments as far as both offensively and defensively. They are strong and fast, obviously, they are number two in the nation for a reason so I think we played with them and never game up. If I said make this adjustment, they were able to do it right away which is really encouraging,” McHale said.
LU opened the second half on a four-goal run to increase their lead to seven points. Sophomore midfielders Taylor Jakeman and Wick answered with two goals of their own to bring the cut their deficit to five points.
The Lions offense was able to push their lead to 17-8, but Whittle answered with a goal of her own as she tried to get CMU some momentum.
Freshman attacker Elizabeth Renken scored on a free-position shot with 8:17 left in the game. Renken’s score started a four-goal run for CMU as they were able to cut LU’s lead down to five points with less than a minute left in the game.
Whittle finished the game with three goals along with nine draw controls against the Lions. The Mavericks ended the game with 14 draw controls to the Lions 18.
Three different Lions combined for 11 goals and one assist.
“Honestly, our bodies just need to regenerate and recover. So, I think just getting better at everything we are trying to do. We are trying to keep it simple and really just be efficient and execute the things that we are working on, and then just trying to exploit the other team’s mistakes when they make them,” McHale said.
CMU’s next game is Tuesday, March 23 at 1 p.m. against the University of Indianapolis to close out their four-game road swing.
