Freshman forward Lila Dere led the Mavericks with six goals over two games this weekend.

With two tough opponents coming into town in Colorado School of Mines (CSM) and Regis University (RU), Colorado Mesa University (CMU) was up for the task and was successful when they came up with a 3-1 win over the Orediggers and a 4-1. 

“Our mindset going into these games is that we refuse to lose. We will do whatever it takes to win. We have put in a ton of hard work and that is going to pay off for us. I thought we played extremely well this weekend. We had two great team wins,” Dere said.

Dere was able to get the ball in the net not once but twice against CSM. Her first goal came in the second half as she found the net on a pass from redshirt freshman defender Carli Dare. She then scored again on a much easier play when there was an open goal as Sierra Roth was not right in front of the goal. 

Redshirt sophomore midfielder Mikayla Eccher opened the game with a Maverick goal assisted by Dere. Redshirt freshman goalkeeper Chloe Dody only allowed one goal by Reece McDermott from the Orediggers squad. 

Dere made history on Sunday afternoon as she scored four goals making her the 12 player in CMU women’s soccer history to record a hat trick. She also holds the single game record after recording the four goals on Sunday against the Rangers. 

The freshman’s first goal of the game came off of a pass from redshirt junior midfielderLexi Newton ten minutes into the game. She then found a pass from Ecchar and redshirt freshman midfielder Sophia Beames seven minutes later for her second goal of the game. 

The Rangers scored off of a free kick as Audrey Teague took the free kick and passed it to Keegan Storlie who was able to get the right touch on it past the Mavericks defense. 

Dere was the lone athlete to score in the second half. She scored off the run that Dare and Beames started that prompted the hat-trick from Dere. Freshman midfielder Adessa Correa collected her first collegiate assist as she found Dere at the 79 minute mark. 

Dere credited her teammates and her other forwards to the success that she has on the field and especially the success she found this weekend. 

“Honestly I wouldn’t be able to score at all without my team giving me great opportunities to put the ball in the back of the net. I love working with Lexi and Sofia as my other forwards they work so hard and it’s exciting to see them mess up the other team’s defense,” Dere said. 

The Mavericks offense took the majority of the possession throughout the game as they took 23 shots and 15 of them were on the goal. 

Dody was another big asset as she came up big time and blocked a penalty kick that the Rangers had through the game. 

The Mavericks will head to Durango, Colo. to take on Fort Lewis College on Friday afternoon at 1 p.m. They will return home on Sunday afternoon to take on Black Hills State University at Maverick Field at 1 p.m.