COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Colorado State University Pueblo women's lacrosse has been tabbed to finish fifth in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Preseason Coaches' Poll that was released Thursday afternoon.
The ThunderWolves, who went 2-12 overall and 2-8 in the RMAC, earned nine points to sit four points in front of sixth-place Fort Lewis (5 points) and five points behind fourth-place Westminster (13 points).
Colorado Mesa and Regis begin the season as the preseason co-favorites in the preseason poll voted on by the league's head coaches, and the head coaches couldn't vote for their own teams.
In the preseason poll, Colorado Mesa and Regis each earned 23 points as both teams earned three first-place votes. Last season, Colorado Mesa, which went 11-6 overall and 9-1 mark in the RMAC, shared the regular-season RMAC title with Regis, while the Rangers, who posted a 14-5 overall record and a 9-1 mark in the RMAC, captured their sixth consecutive league title last season and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Division II Women's Lacrosse Championships.
UCCS was tabbed third as the Mountain Lions earned 17 points, while Westminster was picked fourth with 13 points.
Fourth-year head coach
Taylor Ward, who played for the Pack from 2016-19 and totaled 142 points and scored 108 goals, welcomes back nine starters from last season's team, including sophomore midfielder
Moira Turpen (Newberg, Ore./Newberg), who was named to the 2026 Preseason Women's Lacrosse All-RMAC Team.
In addition to Turpen, the other starters returning are senior attacker
Audrey Allendorf (Stow, Ohio/Stow-Munroe Falls), junior attacker
Clara Drinkwater (North Kingstown, R.I./North Kingstown), junior defender
Dylan Retzloff (Bend, Ore./Mountain View), junior midfielder
Sophia Rinn (Eagle, Colo./Mountain View), junior midfielder
Reese Wasmund (Portland, Ore./West Linn), sophomore defender
Kenzie Carpio (Colorado Springs, Colo./Rampart), sophomore attacker
Emily Doane (Lake Forest, Calif./El Toro), and sophomore midfielder
Sydney Gunnels (Dallas, Texas/Coppell).
Turpen was named the Preseason All-RMAC Team after being a Second-Team All-RMAC selection last season, after leading the Pack in goals (33), points (38), shots (72), shots on goal (52), ground balls (29), and draw controls (40). Her 33 goals are tied for seventh on the school's single-season chart, while her nine man-up goals are also the most in a single season in school history, and her 72 shots are ninth on the school's single-season chart. She ranked in the Top 10 in the league in goals, goals per game (2.36), shots per game (5.14), shots on goal per game (3.71), and free position goals per game (0.56). She was also 15th in the league in ground balls per game (2.07).
On the season, she scored three or more goals in a game six times, including a career-high five goals in an overtime win at Fort Lewis. Those five goals are tied for the eighth most in a game in program history. In 10 RMAC games, she scored 20 goals, had four assists, tallied 24 points, and recorded 22 ground balls and 26 draw controls.
Ward's fourth Pack team will open the 2026 on Thursday, Feb. 19, with a 2 p.m. MT contest in Hartsville, S.C., against Coker University. The first home game for the Pack at the Art and Lorraine Gonzales Stadium is scheduled for Monday, March 9, at 4 p.m. against Rockhurst, while the first RMAC game of the 2026 season is scheduled for March 14 at 1 p.m. in Durango, Colo., against Fort Lewis College. The Pack will play eight of its 16 games this season at home.
