The Mavericks lost their final game of the regular season 8-15 to No. 3 Regis University (RU) on senior day.
Redshirt senior midfielder Nici Boutwell, redshirt junior defender Elizabeth Posavad, redshirt junior midfielder Ashton Whittle and redshirt senior goalie Lula Mitchell were honored in the senior day festivities.
“It felt awesome starting out, it felt like we were meshing together. It’s always bittersweet to have the last game on this field. Now it’s time to go prove ourselves on theirs and we are excited,” Whittle said.
Mitchell played the second half of the game and finished with a 58.3% save percentage in her final game at Community Hospital Unity Field. She recorded seven of the Mavericks’ eight saves in the game and she allowed five goals.
“It’s always sentimental playing on senior day, it’s my last time out here at least playing a game, we’ve got some practices before the tournament. Honestly, I think the best strategy for me is to not think, just react. Just lock onto the ball, direct my defense and wait for the shot to come and just react. I’ve been training my whole life to do this and so I just have to trust myself. The more you are in your head, the more you are going to get stuck when you get scored on. I was just in the moment, real present,” Mitchell said.
Redshirt sophomore attacker Melanie Evans led Colorado Mesa University (CMU) in scoring with three points. She scored one goal in the game, and she dished out two assists.
Evans scored the first goal of the game less than a minute and a half into the game as she dodged past her defender and got to the front of the net to fire a bounce shot into the net. Kyleigh Peoples came back with a goal of her own to tie the game at 2 with 11:09 left in the first quarter.
Redshirt sophomore attacker Brianna Anderson gave the Mavericks a 2-1 lead two minutes later on a free-position shot. RU answered this time with a three-goal run to take a 4-2 lead with 5:57 left in the first quarter.
Redshirt sophomore midfielder Kiley Davis and Anderson tied the game back at four with 2:33 left in the first quarter as they each recorded a goal. Gabby Rothermund broke the tie with 21 seconds left in the quarter to put RU up 5-4.
The Rangers came out swinging in the second quarter with two goals to put them up 7-4 with 8:00 left in the first half. Whittle scored CMU’s lone goal of the second quarter with 3:47 left in the second quarter on a free-position shot.
RU added three more goals in the quarter to take a 10-5 lead into the halftime break.
“For us defensively, we really wanted to pressure out instead of sinking in like we do sometimes, so we wanted to pressure out and cause as many turnovers as possible. I feel like we did a great job doing that. Through the rest of the game, we just had to keep our head and grind cause we were struggling to keep some of the possession on the offensive end so we were starting to get a little gassed out,” Posavad said.
Hannah Krats scored the first goal of the second half with 12:58 remaining in the third quarter off an assist from Bailey Truex. The Mavericks were almost held scoreless in the quarter, but redshirt sophomore midfielder Taylor Jakeman fought through three defenders to score with two seconds remaining in the quarter.
Redshirt sophomore attacker Regan Wentz opened the fourth quarter up with a man-down goal with 13:56 left in the game. Rothermund came back with a goal of her own to put RU up 12-7 five minutes later.
Jakeman scored CMU’s final goal of the game with 7:05 left in the game as she cut through the middle, caught a pass from Evans and fired a shot into the net. RU scored three more goals in the game to pull out their seven-goal victory.
Whittle and Anderson were the only other two Mavericks to register multiple points in the game as they both scored two goals in the game. Whittle also won four draw controls and caused one turnover in the game.
“We really talked about giving each other more space and more room to work to build off those opportunities. I think the moments that the offense was really good and we were on a roll, we were giving each other space and playing for each other. Then, we had the opposite end of the spectrum, we were really close in, we couldn’t get sticks out and it was just jumbled. So, I think we just really need to work and now we know especially today is telling is just to give each other space, keep our feet moving, keep our defenders occupied, and work down the clock a little bit, make them tired and then attack. We’ve got the stamina, we’ve got the skill,” Whittle said.
CMU won the battle in the draw control circle as they won 14 draw controls compared to the Ranger’s 10 draw control wins.
The Maverick’s next game will be in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Tournament on Friday, May 6. CMU’s opponent is yet to be determined, check the CMU Athletics website for updates.
