COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (March 18, 2019) – The Colorado State University-Pueblo women's lacrosse team traveled up to Colorado Springs, Colorado and came out on top of a Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference battle with University of Colorado Colorado Springs. The ThunderWolves won their league opener 16-14, behind five second-half goals by senior Allison Wurscher (Tigard, Ore.). 

The contest between the Pack (3-2, 1-0 RMAC) and Mountain Lions (3-4, 1-1 RMAC) saw 16 yellow from the two rivals for a true dog and cat fight. Special teams proved valuable, as CSU-Pueblo scored twice on the advantage and also found two goals with a player down. 

UCCS took more shots (37-28), but the ThunderWolves were more precise, as the home team had only a 26-25 advantage in shots on goal. The Pack won the ground game with 23 ground balls to the Mountain Lions' 19. UCCS narrowly won the draw control category, 16-15. Both teams had an 83 percent or better showing on clear attempts, while Mountain Lions had 16 free-position shots to CSU-Pueblo's 11. 

Senior goalie Ane Marie Horton (Long Beach, Calif.) was huge in the net for the Pack, as she totaled 12 saves. She posted four ground balls with one caused turnover. 

Wurscher, who had six points in a win last Monday, put the team on her back in the second half and totaled seven of her eight points in the final 20 minutes of the game. She scored five goals and added three assists on six shots with five on goal. The senior tallied a goal on both her free-position shots and scored once with the player advantage. 

Junior Elyse Ingram (San Jose, Calif.) scored all three of her goals in the first half and now leads the team with 12 goals on the season. She also added two ground balls, two draw controls and one caused turnover. 

The game-winning game would end up coming off the stick of sophomore Olivia Tener (Boise, Idaho) with 6:11 remaining and the Pack a player down. The tally was her second of the game. Tener also led the team with six draw controls. 

Four other players scored twice to help with the offense in the win. Sophomore Emily Eller (Keller, Texas) scored both her goals in the final 10 minutes of the game. She also had four draw controls. 

Junior Ali Doyle (Portland, Ore.) netted both her goals in the first half and finished with three total points. She had four shots on goal and added one ground ball. 
 
Senior Taylor Christensen (Colorado Springs, Colo.) scored twice in the first half before receiving her second yellow card of the game with 25 minutes left in regulation. 

The win proved to be a total team effort, as the ThunderWolves defense held their own. Sophomore Madison Cunningham (Corona, Calif.) led the team with five ground balls and added one caused turnover. Junior Britney Smith (Oregon City, Ore.) added four ground balls and caused one turnover. 

It was a see-saw match from the start, as neither team held a two-goal lead until midway through the half and it didn't last long. Ingram had a hat trick when she scored with 14:20 remaining to give the ThunderWolves a 5-4 lead, then a Doyle shot found the back of the net and the road team led 6-4 with 11:14 on the first half game clock. Just 48 seconds later UCCS scored and then tied the game 6-6 with 8:24 left. 

Doyle's second came with five minutes left on a player down goal, but UCCS would also find a special teams tally before the end of the half, as they netted a buzzer beater and scored a player-up goal as time expired to knot the contest at 7-7 at the break. 

The late first-half goal sparked a run for the Mountain Lions, as they came out of the locker room and scored the next two goals to build their largest lead of the game at 9-7 with just over five minutes gone in the half. 

Then it was Wurscher's time to shine. 

The senior scored her first of the game with 20:39 left and then assisted on a Tener goal just 1:12 later to tie the game 9-9. UCCS quickly responded, but Wurscher would post a natural hat trick, as she potted three straight goals between the 18:26 and 14:15 mark. The three goals sparked a 5-0 run for the ThunderWolves during 10 minutes of game time. Eller snuck both her her goals in during that stretch and the lead was 14-10 with 8:55 remaining. 

The Mountain Lions scored with 8:12 showing on the clock, but a Tener player-down goal with 6:11 remaining had the ThunderWolves back on top by four at 15-11. 

UCCS made it interesting with two goals just 12 ticks apart and trailed 15-13 with 1:47 left, but Wurscher would slam the door and score her fifth of the night with 1:21 remaining. The Mountain Lions got one more with 26 seconds left, but it wouldn't be enough, as the Pack prevailed 16-14. 

CSU-Pueblo will take its momentum of a three-game win streak into Wednesday's nonconference meeting with Colorado College at the Art and Lorraine Gonzales Stadium. CC is ranked No. 22 in NCAA Division III and comes in with a 6-0 record. The ThunderWolves have won three or more games in a row in three different seasons with the record sitting a four consecutive wins during the 2016 season. The game Wednesday is set for a 6 p.m. start.

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As a member of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, Colorado State University – Pueblo competes in 22 varsity sports in NCAA Division II intercollegiate athletics.