PUEBLO, Colo.– Colorado State University Pueblo women's lacrosse continues Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference play this weekend as the ThunderWolves remain at ALG Stadium to host league contests against UCCS and 18th-ranked Regis.

The ThunderWolves, who have dropped four straight games, opens the weekend with a 4 p.m. game on Thursday, April 2, against UCCS, before hosting nationally ranked Regis for a 12 p.m. game on Saturday, April 4.

CSU Pueblo, which is led by fourth-year head coach Taylor Ward, comes into this weekend's action sporting a 4-7 overall record and a 1-4 mark in the RMAC following home losses last weekend against Colorado Mesa (11-8) and Westminster (17-11). The Pack's current four-game losing skid began with a 12-8 loss at Regis on March 20.

The Pack's four wins this season are the most in a season by the program since the 2021 team finished with a 4-9 record.

The Pack continues to feature on the RMAC's top offensive attacks as they have scored 129 goals, which is second-most in the league and are averaging 11.7 goals per game and 26.3 shots per contest while converting at a 44.6 shooting percentage. The Pack is tied for second in the league in shooting percentage, third in assists per game (5.09) and fourth in goals per game.

CSU Pueblo has had six players tally double-digit goals, including three with 20 or more goals, on the season, led by sophomore attacker Emily Doane (Lake Forest, Calif./El Toro), who has tallied 28 goals and 13 assists for a team-best 41 points. Doane is third in the RMAC in goals (28), fifth in the league in goals per game (2.55) and is tied for the league lead in assists as she averages 1.18 per game.

In addition to Doane, freshman midfielder Ainsley Jackson (Anaheim, Calif./Canyon) has totaled 23 goals, which is sixth in the RMAC and leads the team in draws with 42, while sophomore midfielder Sydney Gunnels (Dallas, Texas/Coppell) has scored 22 goals and has had 10 assists for 32 points and has added 23 draws. The Pack have three of the Top 10 goal scorers in the RMAC this season.

The other Pack players with double-digit goals this season are junior midfielder Sophia Rinn (Eagle, Colo./Eagle Valley) has had 15 goals and four assists, while redshirt freshman midfielder Sienna Rinn (Eagle, Colo./Eagle Valley) has scored 12 goals and added seven assists and is second in draws with 32, and freshman attacker Hillary Grehan (Winnipeg, Manitoba/Murdoch MacKay Collegiate) has tallied 13 goals and three assists.

CSU Pueblo has also shown strength in possession metrics, holding a 151-142 advantage in draw controls and collecting 294 ground balls through 11 games. The ThunderWolves have also recorded 124 caused turnovers, highlighting their defensive pressure and transition opportunities. The Pack leads the league in ground balls per game (26.73) and draw controls per game (13.73) and is second in caused turnovers per game (11.27).

Individually, junior defender Dylan Retzloff (Bend, Ore./Mountain View) is third in the league in caused turnovers with 25 and is averaging 2.27 per game and has also added 22 ground balls, while freshman defender Maelynn Saucedo (Eastvale, Calif./Eleanor Roosevelt) leads the team in ground balls with 30 and is second on the team in caused turnovers with 21 and senior defender Audrey Allendorf (Stow, Ohio/Stow-Munroe Falls) has picked up 25 ground balls and averages 2.50 per game, which is 10th per game.

Junior goalie Breonna Mason (Colorado Springs, Colo./Air Academy) has recorded 65 saves and 23 ground balls in seven games and has a 40.9 save percentage and a 13.69 goals against average. Freshman Hannah Duffee (Bayport, Minn./St. Croix Preparatory Academy) has also played five games in the goal and has recorded 28 saves and 10 ground balls and has a 36.8 save percentage and a 11.64 GAA.

ABOUT UCCS
UCCS comes into this weekend's action sporting a 5-5 overall record and a 3-2 mark in the RMAC after suffering a 13-8 home loss last Thursday against Regis. The loss to nationally-ranked Regis snapped a four-game win streak for the Mountain Lions that began with an 8-7 win at Colorado Mesa and then continued with three straight home victories over Missouri Western (14-9), Fort Lewis (22-7) and CSU Pueblo (17-12).

As a team, UCCS has scored 118 goals and is averaging 11.80 goals per game, which his third-best in the RMAC. Freshman attacker Ella Mills leads UCCS in goals with 27 and has had three assists for 30 points. In addition to Mills, sophomore midfielder Sofia Watts has recorded 27 goals and two assists for 29 points and freshman attacker Charlotte Fannin has had 17 goals and eight assists for 25 points.

The Mountain Lions are second in the league in assists per game (5.40) and are also also second in shots per game as they are averaging 29.40 shots per game and have 40.1 shot percentage.

Senior attacker Allie Schall leads the way with 13 assists and freshman midfielder Allison Hoffman has had nine assists and added 15 goals.

UCCS is second in the league in draw controls with 129 and is averaging 12.90 per game with senior midfielder Jade Wilson leading the way with 39, while freshman midfielder Josie Leonard has had 23 draws. UCCS is also tied for second in the league in ground balls with 237 as three UCCS players have had 20 or more on the season as Fannin leads the way with 29 ground balls.

Defensively, UCCS has caused 62 turnovers and have allowed 112 goals in 10 games.

In goal, sophomore Delaney Gnos has played in all 10 games and is fifth in the league in goals against average (13.51) and is fourth in saves per game (5.70). Redshirt junior Ellen Gernert has played in five games and has allowed 23 goals and has had 21 saves and a 7.44 GAA.

UCCS is coached by Brice Queener, who is in his second season with the Mountain Lions after spending the five years as the Associate Head Coach at the University of Denver. As a collegiate player, Queener played four years at Georgetown University and helped the Hoyas to four straight NCAA Tournament appearances. After his college career, he played six years in Major League Lacrosse with both the Rochester Rattlers and the Hamilton Nationals.

Thursday's game will mark the second meeting this season and 15th all-time meeting between the two schools as UCCS holds an 11-3 advantage in the series. The Pack have lost 11 straight games in the series, including a hard-fought 17-12 loss earlier this season in Colorado Springs, Colo. In that game, the Pack trailed 12-10 heading into the fourth period, but the Mountain Lions outscored the Pack, 5-2, in the final period to post the victory. Doane paced the Pack with three goals, while Jackson and Sophia and Sienna Rinn each had two goals in the loss.

ABOUT REGIS
Regis University, who plays at Colorado Mesa on Wednesday and plays at Fort Lewis on Thursday, comes into Saturday's game with the Pack riding a four-game win streak that has moved its record to 7-4 overall and 3-1 in the RMAC. The Rangers' lone loss in league play came in its opener on March 15 as they suffered a 12-11 loss in Salt Lake City. The Rangers, who are ranked 18th in this week's IWLCA Division II Coaches' Poll, began its current win streak with a 16-5 win against William Jewell, before earning home wins two weeks ago against CSU Pueblo (18-14) and Fort Lewis (18-1) and its 13-8 win last Thursday at UCCS.

In the Preseason RMAC Coaches' Poll, the Rangers were tabbed to finish tied for first with Colorado Mesa as each team earned 23 points and three first-place votes. The Rangers shared the RMAC regular season title last season with Colorado Mesa, but Regis captured its sixth consecutive league title last season and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Division II Women's Lacrosse Championships.

As a team, Regis leads the league in scoring with 140 goals and is averaging 12.73 goals per game. The Rangers have scored double-digit goals in nine of 11 games, including a season-high 18 goals in back-to-back wins against the Pack and Fort Lewis.

Leading the way offensively for Regis is junior midfielder Lexie Springman and senior midfielder Maggie Schipfer as those two have combined to score 61 goals as Springman leads the league with 31 goals and is averaging 3.10 per game, while Schipfer has scored 30 goals and is averaging 2.73 per game. The third goal scorer is sophomore midfielder Aubrey Benton, who has scored 22 goals and is averaging 2.0 goals per game.

Sophomore attacker Kyla Bieker leads the Rangers with 10 assists, while Springman has had nine assists for a total of 40 points. Schipfer has had six assists and has totaled 36 points. As a team, the Rangers have had just 53 assists on their 140 goals.
The Rangers have collected 112 draws this season with freshman midfielder Krista Munsinger and freshman attacker Elle Enselman having collected 26 and 25 draws respectively, while redshirt sophomore midfielder Evie Tanalla has had 17 draws.

Freshman defender Sophia Katnik leads the team in ground balls with 33 and is averaging 3.0 per game, while graduate student goalie Brigit Goetsch has had 30 ground balls and is averaging 3.13 per game, while freshman defender Sophia Katnik has had 22 ground balls and is averaging 2.73 per game. As a team, Regis has had 205 ground balls and is averaging 18.64 per game. In addition, they are fourth in the league in caused turnovers as they are averaging 10.45 per game.

In goal, Goetsch leads in the RMAC in goals against average at 10.88 and save percentage (.49.8 percent) and is second in saves per game (10.00). Sophomore Izzy Schember has played two game in goal and has allowed four goals and made two saves.

The Rangers are coached by Sarah Kellner, who is in her 20th season as Regis' coach. Kellner has compiled a 231-83 record in her time at Regis. She has coached the Rangers to nine conference championships, seven NCAA Tournament appearances and three NCAA national semifinal appearances. The Rangers have gone undefeated in league play in four of the last six seasons (the 2020 season was canceled due to COVID-19 pandemic) and is 65-4 overall in the RMAC since the beginning of the 2019 season.

Saturday's game will mark the second meeting this season and the 22nd all-time between the two schools as Regis leads the all-time series, 21-0, including being 16-0 against the Pack in RMAC play. Regis won both meetings last season as they earned an 18-3 win in Pueblo and a 20-7 win in Denver and collected an 18-14 win earlier this season in Denver against the Pack. In that game, the Pack trailed 9-8 at the half and were tied 14-14 with the Rangers following a man-up goal by Jackson less than two minutes into the final period. Regis, though, closed the game by scoring the final four goals to post the win. The four-goal margin was the closest in the teams' previous 21 meetings.