The Mavericks have a young roster that has seen some of the toughest competition in the nation, which will prove crucial in the short and long term.
Colorado Mesa University (CMU) was picked to finish second in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) after getting to their first RMAC Championship in program history last season. The Mavericks have a 4-4 overall record, and they are 2-1 against RMAC opponents this year.
The Mavericks are in the back half of one of the toughest stretches of their schedule. They have played a nationally ranked team or a team that received votes in the national polls in their last five games and have gone 1-4 in the stretch. Their last game against a nationally ranked team was when they started conference play against Regis University on April 1.
“I think we’re going to have to really focus on ourselves, and what we’re trying to do, how we’re trying to grow our game. Our goal is really, for there, obviously, everybody wants to win, but we’re trying to just build our game and using that really high-level competition, to be able to give us a measuring stick of where we are with our program and where we are at the start of the year.”
The one win for CMU in that stretch came against Saint Leo University in overtime to pull off a 13-12 win. Redshirt sophomore midfielder Taylor Jakeman scored the game-winning goal less than a minute into the overtime period and redshirt sophomore attacker Regan Wentz tied the game at 12 with just five seconds remaining in regulation.
Jakeman is one of four players tied for the most assists on the team with five. She is the third-leading scorer for the Mavericks with 16 points and has scored 11 goals to contribute to her total.
The Mavericks added depth all over the field with talented freshman with many of them being asked to step up early in their careers. CMU has 13 freshmen appearing at every position on the field on the roster.
“It’s been great being able to sub in and out all the midfielders and have fresh legs. The freshman have come in this year and really pushed everyone to work harder. I’m excited by the depth we have this season,” Jakeman said.
The seven Maverick freshman that have registered a point this season have combined to score 40 points this year. Freshman midfielder Ali Bryant leading them with seven points. Bryant has been dominant as a wing on the draw controls as she has recorded the third-most draw controls for CMU with 17.
“I think they were excited about the next level and a lot of them did the work they needed to do to be productive at this level when they were coming in. I think they know what they can do for this program, and I think they were excited to join this program. You know, we’re moving up and to be a part of that is exciting. They’ve come from good backgrounds, and they’re good players.
The Mavericks return their speed and their leading scorer from last year. Redshirt sophomore midfielder Kiley Davis led the team in scoring last year and is doing the same this year as she has a team-high 23 points. She has scored a team-high of 18 goals and has compiled five assists.
The Mavericks offense is in their second year in Head Coach Shannon McHale’s system and the chemistry is only going to get better.
“This past year and a half with Coach McHale has taught me so much and I’ve grown a lot as a player. I know I’m not the only one who can say that, so I’m feeling very confident in our team heading into this season. We really have just continued to build on last year and we will continue to keep building as the season progresses,” Jakeman said.
The Mavericks lost two players from last year’s team to graduation, but they brought in five new freshman defenders to fill their losses. The anchor for the Maverick’s defense is redshirt sophomore defender Kelsey Viger as she draws some of the toughest matchups each game.
“We have Kelsey back and [Elizabeth Posavad] back. This weekend, we had a freshman in there, in Erica [Rivera] and in [Taylor Scott], who was injured, honestly, most of the year last year. So, she has made significant improvement, and she is a great communicator, and just all around really good defender at a lot of different things,” McHale said.
We also have, we moved to Amber Wennerstrom. Back there, she played attack for us last year, and she’s really coming along well, showing a lot of potential, good size, so it’ll be nice to have that in the future, and Larkin [Daly] just continues to get better. So, I think we have a lot of depth on defense, which last year, we didn’t have as much. So that’s helpful.”
The Mavericks added depth in between the pipes with freshman goaltender Shannon Murphy. She has started all six games for the Mavericks this year and has a 24.6% save percentage.
CMU also have their long-time starter redshirt senior goaltender Lula Mitchell who has appeared in four games this year. She has made 14 saves and allowed 27 goals this year.
“I think [Shannon] Murphey played well, especially for her first college outings. I think she’s going to see stronger shots. So yeah, I think they all support each other and keep working to just try to be the best goalie squad they can be for our team,” McHale said.
They all have, they all have different things they bring. So, it may be a game-to-game situation where it’s like, ‘what do we need in cage? What are we looking at?’ If someone is having a great day, we might just leave it and if somebody is struggling a little bit, we may make a change. It’ll be I think it’ll be more game to game, then, you know, some 1,2 and 3.”
CMU’s next game is against Westminster College in Salt Lake City, Utah on April 6 at 7 p.m.
