After defeating Dixie State 1-0 earlier in the week, the Colorado Mesa University women’s soccer team returned to Walker Field on Saturday night to take on the Grand Canyon University Lobos.

CMU played solid defense for majority of the game. The first half was aggressively played. The Mavericks had multiple steals and saves, but a few slip-ups let the Lobos push to a 2-0 victory.

“Statistically, we did dominate them in a lot of the offensive categories,” coach Erin Sharpe said. “We just couldn’t put the ball in the back of the net.”

The lobos’ goals were set pieces. The Mavericks had pushed a ball into the net on a set piece of their own, but a hand ball called by the officials took back the goal for CMU.

In the first half, defender Sam Burneo took a hard kick in the stomach. Burneo finished the half, but team doctors decided she needed to be taken to the emergency room for a CT scan to check her internal organs.

“Sam going down definitely was a struggle for us,” junior Kelci Crispe said. “We just have to come back harder next week.”

On Thursday against visiting Dixie, the Mavericks took on another physical team. The game was scoreless for the first 77 minutes. Senior Sophia Whigham found the left side of the net for the first time this season.

The Mavs outshot the Lobos 14-11, but the Mavs never capitalized on their shot attempts.

The Mavericks begin Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference play next week against University of Nebraska at Kearney on at Walker Field at 4 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 16.

cncooper@mavs.coloradomesa.edu