The Colorado Mesa University (CMU) women’s soccer team picks up two conference wins in this weekend’s action. The Mavericks took down Fort Lewis College on Friday night and beat Western Colorado University on Sunday.
Redshirt sophomore forward Lila Dere has been the star for the Mavericks this season, ranking second nationally with 15 goals scored. While it was a quiet weekend for Dere, the rest of the Mavericks stepped up.
From the opening kickoff against Fort Lewis College, the Mavericks dominated the Skyhawks. The majority of the game was played with the Mavs in control of the possession and limited the Skyhawks to only four shots on goal. Only one of those shots had a real chance of going in and redshirt sophomore goalie Chloe Dody made a nice save.
The Mavericks opened the scoring in the 22 minute of the game. After the Skyhawks cleared the ball, CMU was rewarded with the corner kick. Redshirt sophomore midfielder Haley Klasner sent the ball into the box, and Freshman defender Ally Wachtel found it to score her first collegiate goal, and to give the Mavericks a 1-0 lead.
Following the goal, the Mavericks shut down any scoring chance that Fort Lewis may have had. By the time halftime came around, the Skyhawks were unable to get a single shot off.
Klasner and the rest of the Mavericks offense came out of the break hot and didn’t waste any time putting the pressure back on the Skyhawks. Freshman forward Kylie Wells sent a nice give-and-go pass back to Klasner, who then curled the shot into the bottom left corner of the net. Klasner’s goal gave the Mavericks a 2-0 lead.
After the Klasner goal the Mavericks played smart soccer and held on for the 2-0 win. Two days later, the team traveled to Gunninson to take on Western Colorado University.
The intense Maverick offense continued, as they put up another 18 shots against the Mountaineers. The CMU offense currently sits top 10 nationally for shots per game, shooting an average of 19.5 shots a game.
In the 25 minute mark of the match the Mavericks scored the game’s first goal. Klasner sent a long range shot off the crossbar, but redshirt sophomore midfielder Tatum Pfalmer was the first to the rebound and scored the easy goal.
Freshman forward Talea Kuennen scored the second Maverick goal just before halftime. The freshman displayed nice skill as she dribbled around the Mountaineer defender and fired the ball of her left foot into the top corner of the net for the 2-0 Maverick lead.
The Mavericks offense capped off their scoring with a beautiful team goal in the 56 minute of the match. Redshirt sophomore midfielder Sophia Beams won a loose ball for the Mavs and passed the ball to redshirt senior defender Jacqueline Linn. Linn quickly sent a perfect cross to the Freshman Wells who was streaking down the right side. Wells poked the ball into the corner of the net giving the Mavericks the decisive lead.
Defensively, the Mavericks shutdown any offense that the Mountaineers had. Dody only had to make one save on the game which came in the opening moments of the game. Sophomore goalkeeper Savannah Harvey checked into the game in the 78th minute, and finished the 3-0 shutout victory for the Mavericks.
The Mavericks and their high powered offense look to increase their win streak against Colorado Christian University this Friday at Trailblazer stadium.
