PUEBLO, Colo.– Colorado State University Pueblo women's lacrosse closes out the 2025 regular season here this weekend as they host Westminster and Colorado Mesa for Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference games at ALG Stadium.

The ThunderWolves open the weekend with a 4 p.m. game against Westminster University on Thursday, April 17, before hosting Colorado Mesa for a 2 p.m. Senior Day game on Saturday, April 19.

CSU Pueblo, led by third-year head coach Taylor Ward, enters the final weekend of the regular season still in contention for a spot in the RMAC Tournament, holding a 2-10 overall record and a 2-6 mark in the RMAC. The Pack, who snapped a six-game losing streak with its 16-15 overtime win last Saturday at Fort Lewis, must secure a win against Westminster and hope for a Griffins loss on Saturday at Fort Lewis to claim the final place in the RMAC Tournament. Currently, the Pack and Griffins are tied for fourth place in the RMAC standings. Should the two teams tie at the end of the season, Westminster would have a tiebreaker over the Pack due to the head-to-head season goal differential.

Through 12 games this season, the Pack has scored 108 goals and is averaging 8.83 goals per game, which is fifth in the RMAC. Leading the way offensively for the Pack is freshman attacker Moira Turpen (Newberg, Ore./Newberg) as she has scored a team-high 30 goals and has added two assists for 32 points. Turpen's 30 goals are seventh in the league and she is averaging 2.50 goals per game and had scored at least three goals in six of the Pack's 12 games, including the game winning goal in overtime last Saturday at Fort Lewis. Turpen's 30 goals are tied with current Pack head coach Taylor Ward for 11th on the school's single season chart.

In addition to Turpen, freshman midfielder Sydney Gunnels (Dallas, Texas/Coppell) is second in goals with 17 and has had six assists for 23 points, while freshman attacker Emily Doane (Lake Forest, Calif./El Toro) has tallied 15 goals and a team-high 10 assists for 25 points and sophomore midfielder Reese Wasmund (Portland, Ore./West Linn) has also scored 15 goals and added six assists for 21 points.

As a team, the Pack has recorded 36 assists on 106 goals and is averaging 3.00 assists per game.

One area where the Pack has been strong this season is in free-position goals as they recorded 33 free-position goals and is second in the league in free-position percentage at 50.8 percent (33-for-65). Gunnels leads the way with 13 free position goals and is 13-for-22 on the season, while Turpen is 7-for-14 on free position shots. Gunnels is averaging 1.08 free position goals per game, which is tops in both the RMAC and 14th in Division II. The 13 free position goals are third on the school's single-season chart.

The Pack has had five players take 30 or more shots this season as Turpen leads the way with 64, including 47 shots on goal, while Gunnels has taken 40 shots, Wasmund has taken 39 shots, Doane has taken 37 shots and sophomore midfielder Sophia Rinn (Eagle, Colo./Eagle Valley) is sixth with 33 shots. Turpen is seventh in the league in shots per game (5.33).

Wasmund leads the team in draws with 36, while Turpen is second with 34 draws and Doane has collected 32 draws. As a team, the Pack has collected 151 draws on the year and is fourth in the league in draws per game as they are averaging 12.58 draws per game.

Sophomore goalie Breonna Mason (Colorado Springs, Colo./Air Academy), who was named this week's RMAC Defensive Player of the Week and the USA Lacrosse Division II Player of the Week, leads the league in ground balls with 47 and is averaging 3.92 ground balls per game, which is 12th in Division II. In addition to Mason, Turpen has collected 27 ground balls, while Doane has had 19 ground balls.The Pack is fifth in the RMAC in ground balls per game as they are averaging 19.67.

Defensively, the Pack is allowing 17.83 goals per game and has caused 77 turnovers with Wasmund leading the way with 13, while Mason is second with 11 and Gunnels is third with nine caused turnovers.

Mason, an Honorable Mention All-RMAC selection last season, has continued her stellar play in the cage this season. She leads the league and Division II in saves per game (13.92) and leads the league and is second nationally in overall saves (167) and ranks third in save percentage (44.9 percent). Her goals-against average of 17.93 is fifth in the league. Mason's 167 saves this season is tops on the school's single season chart and she is just 33 saves shy of becoming just the second player in RMAC history to record 200 saves in a season.

ABOUT WESTMINSTER
Westminster comes into Thursday's action sporting a 5-8 overall record and a 2-6 mark in the RMAC as the Griffins have lost three straight games since earning back-to-back home wins on March 28 and March 30 against For Lewis and CSU Pueblo respectively. Since those wins, Westminster has lost at home to Colorado Mesa (20-5), Regis (13-9) and UCCS (16-15).

As a team, Westminster has scored 147 goals as they are averaging 11.31 goals per game, which is fourth in the RMAC. The Griffins have scored 10 or more goals in six games, including tallying 15 goals last time out at home against UCCS.

Leading the way offensively for Westminster is sophomore attacker Jordan Williamson, who has scored 39 goals and has added six assists for 45 points. In addition to Williamson, sophomore attacker Olivia Petroksky has scored 21 goals and added four assists for 25 points, while freshman midfielder Grace Szwedko has scored 19 goals and added four assists for 23 points.

The Griffins have recorded 54 assists on its 147 goals this season as senior midfielder Celia Fidanza leads the way with 25, which is second-most in the league. Fidanza is averaging 1.92 assists per game and has assisted nearly 47 percent of her team's goals this season.

Westminster has collected 151 draw controls and are averaging 11.54 per game and have a draw control percentage of 44.1 percent, which is fourth-best in the RMAC. Szwedko leads the way with 53 draws, while sophomore defender Madi Rogers has had 28 draws. Szwedko averages 4.00 draws per game.

Defensively, Westminster has caused 170 turnovers and leads the league and is sixth nationally in caused turnovers per game at 13.23. Sophomore defender Marianna Dick leads the way with 40 and is averaging a league-best 3.08 caused turnovers per game, while graduate student defender Riley Weldon has had 36 and is averaging 2.77 per game, which is second-best in the RMAC.

The Griffins have played two goalies this season. The primary goalie is senior Gabriella Cheminant, who has recorded 98 saves and a 12.16 goals-against average. In addition to Cheminant, freshman Kaelyn Hart has played 297 minutes in the cage, recorded 58 saves, and has an 11.74 goals-against average.

Westminster is coached by Jannel Snow, who is in her third season directing the Griffins women's lacrosse program. She has led the Griffins to back-to-back RMAC Tournament appearances and was named the RMAC Coach of the Year in 2023. She has compiled a 16-24 record as Westminster's head coach.

Thursday's game will mark the second game this season and 14th all-time meeting between the two schools as Westminster holds a 9-4 advantage in the series. The Pack has lost five straight games in the series, but is 3-4 in Pueblo against the Griffins. The Pack is 3-9 against Westminster in RMAC games.

ABOUT COLORADO MESA
Colorado Mesa, who plays at Fort Lewis on Thursday afternoon, comes into the week sporting an 8-5 overall record and is in second place in the RMAC standings with a 7-1 record after having its seven game win streak snapped last Sunday with a 14-11 home loss to 15th-ranked Regis. The loss to Regis was the first this season in league play for the Mavericks as they collected 16-11 win at Regis on March. 14. The Mavericks are now 71-21 overall all-time in RMAC game with 19 of those 21 losses coming to Regis as the Mavs haven't lost an RMAC game to any other current conference member school.

Since opening the season by losing four of its first five games, CMU, who was tabbed to finish second in the RMAC Preseason Coaches' Poll as they earned 21 points and a first place vote, has won seven of its last eight games with the lone setback being its 14-11 home loss last Sunday against Regis.

As a team, Colorado Mesa has scored 190 goals and is averaging 14.62 goals per game, which is second-best in the RMAC. Leading the way offensively for the Mavericks is junior attacker Courtney Havel, who is tied for second in goals (42), goals per game (3.23) and is fourth in shots per game (6.15). In addition to Havel, senior attacker Caroline Ohngemach is second in goals scored with 35 and is also second in assists with 18 for a total of 53 points, while junior attacker Justine Anderson leads the team in points with 55 as she has scored 29 goals and leads the RMAC in assists with 26. She is averaging 2.00 assists per game on the year.

The Mavericks have recorded 97 assists and are second in the league in assists per game at 7.46. In addition to Anderson's league-leading 26 assists, Ohngemach is second with 18 assists and senior midfielder Ali Bryant has tallied 14 assists.

Bryant leads the team with 65 draw controls and is second in the league in draws per game at 5.00. In addition to Bryant, senior attacker Emme Rezoski has had 50 draws, while Ohngemach has recorded 48. The Mavs have recorded 204 draws and are second in the league and is 20th nationally in Division II in draw controls per game as they are averaging 15.77 per game.

Six CMU players have recorded 20 or more ground balls with freshman goalie Heather Hawkins leading the way with 39, while Bryant is second with 26. As a team, CMU is fourth in the league in ground balls per game, as they are averaging 21.23 per contest.

The Mavs are fourth in the league in caused turnovers per game as they are averaging 9.85 per game and have been credited with 128 caused turnovers, including senior defender Sydney Skinner leading the way with 21, while Bryant has had 16.

Hawkins has been the Mavs primary goalie this season and she is third in the league in saves per game (8.25), second in save percentage (.490) and is fourth in total saves (99). In addition, she is second in the RMAC in goals-against-average at 10.03. Senior Shannon Murphy has played four games in the cage and has recorded 38 saves and has a 15.19 goals-against-average.

Colorado Mesa is coached by Ashley Delaney, who is in her second season with the Mavericks. She has posted a 19-11 overall record as the Mavs head coach and was 33-19 record in her four seasons as an assistant with the Mavericks prior to becoming the program's head coach.

Saturday's game will mark the second game this season and 19th all-time meeting between the two schools as Colorado Mesa leads the all-time series with a 19-0 record.