Photo: Malissa Smithey

The women’s soccer team (5-5, 4-2) is on a roll, winning four straight conference games to move into the fourth spot in RMAC.

After starting 1-5, coach Erin Sharpe and the Mavs have stormed back to turn their season around, choosing to mix around the starting lineups.

The Mavericks swept their weekend sleight of games, starting with the defeat of Western State 2-0 Friday night on goals from Ashley Wallace and Tayler Franklin. Wallace and Franklin weren’t done yet.

In Sunday’s game, the Mavericks found themselves down 1-0 at halftime after allowing a goal off a set piece corner kick.

Whatever adjustments coach Erin Sharpe made during the intermission worked. The Mavericks scored three goals in the second half led by Franklin, who found the net two more times to put the Mavs up 2-1. The Mountain Lions were able to tie up the match with 10 minutes remaining, but the Mavericks took back the lead a minute later with the go-ahead goal from Wallace.

“The first half we weren’t sacrificing our bodies on the 50-50 balls in and on our shots,” Sharpe said. “The second half was a complete turnaround, and these girls left everything on the field and really fought hard for this win.”

Franklin and Wallace have emerged as the top scoring threats for the Mavericks and with RMAC play slowly winding down it is still a wide open race. The Mavs will try to carry the momentum on the road this week, as they try to take down the top two teams in RMAC play: School of Mines (9-0-1, 6-0) on Friday and Metro State (7-0-3, 5-0-1) on Sunday.

ksparkhu@mavs.coloradomesa.edu