Mavericks finish the three-game homestand with a win

Josh Coleman • March 16, 2022

The Mavericks had nine different players register one or more points to win their third consecutive game as they beat McKendree University (MCK) 16-5

Redshirt sophomore midfielder Kiley Davis scored a game-high of six points and had a game-high of five goals. She went one for three on free-position shots in the win.

“I think three-quarters of the way through games last year we were just kind of gassed. This year, knowing that somebody can go all out and we have somebody to give them a break and go from there. So, they don’t have to pace themselves, they can really go all out and that is what we look when we go all out. It looked awesome and we had a couple of really nice fast breaks,” Head Coach Shannon McHale.

Taylor Jakeman curls off a screen from Brianna Anderson to go towards the goal against McKendree University on March 16. | *Mikayla Olave for The Criterion*

The Mavericks caused 14 of the 19 Bearcats turnovers in the game as they hounded them in every area of the field. Colorado Mesa University (CMU) was a perfect 16 of 16 when clearing the ball.

CMU got off to a fast start as Davis scored her first goal 55 seconds into the game off an assist from redshirt sophomore midfielder Taylor Jakeman. The pair flipped the script for the Maverick’s second goal of the game as Jakeman scored off an assist from Davis.

Redshirt junior midfielder Ashton Whittle tacked on a goal and Davis scored two more goals as well to put CMU up 5-0 going into the second quarter.

Davis scored her fourth goal of the game with 10:07 left in the second quarter as she shot through two defenders’ sticks to finish high and put CMU up 6-0. Sydney Tiemann got MCK on the board with 7:57 left in the first half as she went through the five-hole to score on a free-position shot.

Sophomore attacker Elizabeth Renken and redshirt sophomore attacker Regan Wentz each scored a goal in the final two minutes of the second quarter. Wentz’s goal came with just five seconds remaining in the second quarter on a free-position goal.

“I think we are finally starting to bring some stuff together, I mean at the beginning of the season it’s always trying to build that chemistry and I think they’ve decided that they are going to do this. We had a great game today and I think they really focused on the little pieces that we needed to put it together,” McHale said.

Wentz opened the third quarter with another free-position goal to put the Mavericks up 9-1. Davis followed it up with her fifth and final goal of the game with 9:01 left in the third quarter.

Redshirt sophomore attacker Melanie Evans scored on a man-up opportunity off a free-position shot. Renken scored her second goal of the game to put CMU up 12-1 with 3:02 left in the third quarter.

Kat Albrecht and Tiemann got the Bearcats back on the board in the fourth quarter as they each scored a goal to bring MCK within nine points. Whittle put the Mavericks up by 10 points as she scored the fifth and final free-position goal for CMU.

Melanie Evans looks for an open teammate at goal-line extended against McKendree University on March 16. | *Mikayla Olave for The Criterion*

Tiemann and Albrecht scored two goals in a row again to score MCK’s final goals of the game to put their total at five.

The Mavericks finished the game by scoring three goals in the final five minutes of the game to pull out the 16-5 win. Freshman midfielder Payton Walker scored the first goal of her career with 2:11 left in the game off an assist from Jakeman.

Freshman goaltender Shannon Murphy saved four shots in the game to finish with an 80% save percentage.

“She actually does a good deal of work outside of practice, so her hard work and her extra work are really showing now. I think we had some really great defensive plays, we matched up on a couple of people and they just did their job and everybody else was helping out. That was the first I feel like, even in practices, I feel like our defense really came together today,” McHale said.

Jakeman scored four points in the game as she scored two goals and assisted two more goals. She picked up one ground ball in the game as well.

Whittle, Evans, and Walker all scored three points in the game, and Whittle scored two goals with one assist. Both Walker and Evans scored one goal and dished out two assists each.

CMU’s next game is Sunday, March 20 at 11:00 a.m. against Florida Southern College to kick-off their spring break trip in Florida.

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