PUEBLO, Colo. – Colorado State University Pueblo women's lacrosse will open its 10-game Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference schedule here Sunday, March 9, with a 1 p.m. game against Fort Lewis College at the Art and Lorraine Gonzales Soccer and Lacrosse Stadium.

CSU Pueblo, who is in the midst of a five-game homestand, comes into Sunday's action sporting an 0-4 overall record after suffering a hard-fought 17-13 loss at home in its non-conference finale last Sunday against Ashland University. In that game, the Pack trailed 16-8 heading into the final period before scoring five of the six goals in the final period. The Pack has dropped 14 straight games dating to a 23-11 win at Tiffin on March 12, 2024.

Sunday's game will mark the first RMAC game of the season for both teams as the Pack was tabbed to finish fifth in the Preseason Coaches' Poll as they earned eight points, while Fort Lewis was tabbed to finish sixth as they earned six points.

Through four games this season, the Pack has scored 34 goals, including a season-high 13 goals last time out against Ashland, and is averaging 8.5 goals per game as freshman attacker Moira Turpen (Newberg, Ore./Newberg) leads the way with 13 games and one assist for 14 points. Turpen has scored at least four goals in three of the Pack's first four games and is fourth in the RMAC in goals per game as she is averaging 3.25 per game and is fifth in the RMAC in points per game (3.50). In addition to Turpen, freshman attacker Emily Doane (Lake Forest, Calif./El Toro) and freshman midfielder Sydney Gunnels (Dallas, Texas.Coppell) have each scored six goals, including Gunnels tallying four of those goals last time out against Ashland.

The Pack, who is coached by third-year head coach Taylor Ward, has had just 11 assists on its 34 goals as Doane and sophomore attacker Clara Drinkwater (North Kingstown, R.I./North Kingstown) have each tallied three assists.  

One area the Pack has been successful at this season is man-down goals as they lead the league with two and is also 14-for-24 (58.3 percent) on free position shots.

The Pack have had four players take 10 or more shots this season as Turpen leads the way with 24, while Doane is second with 15 shots and Gunnels is third with 14 shots. Drinkwater has taken 11 shots. Turpen is fifth in the RMAC in shots per game as she is averaging 6.0 per game.

Turpen also leads the team in draw controls with 14, while sophomore midfielder Reese Wasmund (Portland, Ore./West Linn) is right behind with 12 draws. Overall, the Pack has collected 50 draws on the season.

Sophomore goalie Breonna Mason (Colorado Springs, Colo./Air Academy) leads the league in ground balls (18) and is tied for fourth in the league in caused turnovers (6). In addition to Mason, Gunnels has collected nine ground balls, while junior defender Audrey Allendorf (Stow, Ohio/Stow-Munroe Falls) has had eight ground balls. As a team, the Pack is third in the RMAC in ground balls with 72

Defensively, the Pack are allowing 18.3 goals per game and have caused 31 turnovers on the season with Mason leading the way with six. Gunnels, Wasmund and Allendorf have each had four caused turnovers on the year.

Mason, who was an Honorable Mention All-RMAC selection last season and was named to the RMAC Preseason Player to Watch List, has continued her stellar play this season in the cage as she leads the league in both saves (50) and saves per game (12.50). Her .420 save percentage is fifth-best in the league.

ABOUT FORT LEWIS
Fort Lewis comes into Sunday's game with the Pack sporting an 0-3 overall record this season and has dropped five straight games dating to last season as the Skyhawks most recent win was a 13-9 road victory last season at CSU Pueblo. FLC has opened this season with losses against Saint Michael's (18-7) and Dominican (Calif.) (16-8) and a 19-7 loss last Saturday in Denver against Davenport University. The Skyhawks will play its first seven games this season on the road before its home opener on March 21 against UCCS.

As a team, Fort Lewis has scored 22 goals and is averaging 7.33 goals per game with freshman midfielder Jasmine Nguyen leading the way with six goals and one assist for seven points. In addition to Nguyen, senior attacker Phoebe Ramirez has scored five goals. Three other Skyhawks have tallied two goals this season.

Much like the Pack, Fort Lewis has had just seven assists this season with junior defender Zoi Delgado leading the way with three. Sophomore attacker Piper Price has had two assists.

The Skyhawks have collected 40 draws in three games with junior defender Samantha Rodgers leading the way with 18 as she leads the league in draws per game (6.0). Along with Rodgers, freshman midfielder Maddie Thompson is ninth in the league in draws with 11 and is averaging 3.67 per game.

Fort Lewis has also collected 55 ground balls with junior midfielder Sydney Tannaci leading the way with 11 and is second in the RMAC with an average of 3.67 per game.

Defensively, the Skyhawks have caused 35 turnovers with Tannaci leading the way with seven and is allowing 17.67 goals per game as they have allowed 16 or more goals in all three games on the season.
 
In goal, the Skyhawks have played three goalies as senior Caley Lay has played in all three games and has recorded 26 saves and has allowed 42 goals. Her 8.67 saves per game is third-best in the league. In addition to Lay, sophomore Olivia Tilbury has played 38-plus minutes in the cage and freshman Abigail Leighty has played 46 seconds in goal on the year.

Fort Lewis is coached by first-year head coach Ariannah Ritter. Ritter comes to Fort Lewis after spending the previous two seasons as an assistant coach at Missouri Western State University. Before working at Missouri Western, she was a graduate assistant coach at Lincoln Memorial in 2021 and 2022. Ritter played college lacrosse at Carroll (Wis.) University, where she scored over 100 goals and tallied over 100 points in her career and was named the team's Offensive Player of the Year in 2017.

Sunday's game will mark the 18th all-time meeting between the two schools as Fort Lewis holds a commanding 15-2 lead in the series. The Skyhawks have won eight straight games in the series and hold an 8-0 record at home and leads 7-2 in Pueblo. The last Pack win in the series came in 2019 when the Pack earned a win by forfeit over the Skyhawks.

UP NEXT FOR PACK
The Pack will take 12 days off following Sunday's game with Fort Lewis and will return to action on Friday, March 21 as they host 11th-ranked Regis University for a 5 p.m. RMAC contest at ALG Stadium and then will host UCCS two days later on Sunday, March 23 at 1 p.m.