PUEBLO, Colo. – Colorado State University Pueblo women's lacrosse opened Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference play here Saturday afternoon by falling 14-3 to Westminster University at the Art and Lorraine Gonzales Soccer and Lacrosse Stadium.
 
With Saturday's setback, the ThunderWolves fall to 2-3 overall and 0-1 in the RMAC, while Westminster improves to 1-3 overall and 1-0 in the league. The Pack will conclude its brief two game homestand with a 1 p.m. game on Sunday against Colorado Mesa, who is receiving votes in the most recent ILWomen/IWLCA Poll.
 
After trailing 3-2 at the opening 15 minutes of play, the Pack were outscored 11-1 over the final three periods by the Griffins. Neither team scored a goal in the third period of Saturday's game.
 
After Westminster got the scoring started on a free position goal by Adison Bendorf just 97 seconds into the game, the Pack used back-to-back goals by sophomore attacker Elise Magee (Port Moody, British Columbia/Dr. Charles Best Secondary) and freshman midfielder Sophia Rinn (Eagle, Colo./Eagle Valley) to take a 2-1 lead in the game. Rinn's goal was assisted by senior midfielder Baylee Mee (Reno, Nev./Galena), which was her 29th career assist, which is tied for third-most on the school's career chart.
 
The lead, though, was shortlived as Westminster retied the game on a goal by Shaina Shoughro with 6:10 left in the period and then retook the lead on a free position goal by Maddie Kelleher with 1:29 left in the opening period.
 
CSU Pueblo would tie the game up just 14 seconds into the second period on a goal by graduate student midfielder Caira Lessick (Oregon City, Ore./Oregon City) off an assist by Magee, but the Griffins scored six straight goals to close the period to take a 9-3 lead at the half. Lessick's goal was the 89th of her career, which puts her into a tie for fourth most goals scored in school history.
 
In the third period, the two teams combined to take 10 shots, but neither team would score a goal in the period to head into the final with Westminster holding a 9-3 edge.
 
The Griffins would score five goals in the fourth period, including two free position goals, to cap the scoring.
 
For the game, the Pack were held to just 18 shots, while Westminster took 35 shots and put 29 shots on goal. The Pack had 12 shots on goal.
 
Graduate student attacker Sedona Sargent (Bellingham, Wash./Sehome) took five shots, while Rinn added four shots.
 
Westminster also held a 27-22 edge in ground balls and won the draw control battle, 11-8. Freshman goalie Breonna Mason (Colorado Springs, Colo./Air Academy) had seven ground balls to lead the Pack, while Mee picked up five draw controls to push her career total to 178, which is third-most on the school's all-time list.
 
The Pack caused 15 turnovers in the game with senior defender Paige Scarbrough (El Cajon, Calif./Helix Charter) and  sophomore defender Michiah Leeper (Limon, Colo./Limon) combined for seven in the game as Scarbrough had four and Leeper tallied three.
 
Mason played all 60 minutes in goal and recorded 15 saves to along with her seven ground balls and one caused turnover.
 
Westminster was paced by three goals from Jordan Williamson, while Shoughro, Kelleher, Bendorf and Olivia Petrosky each had two goals in the win. Gabriella Cheminan played all 60 minutes in goal and finished with nine saves and one ground ball.