PUEBLO, Colo. – The Colorado State University Pueblo women's lacrosse team closes out the 2026 regular season this coming weekend with a pair of road matchups against Westminster and Colorado Mesa.

CSU Pueblo opens the weekend with a 7 p.m. game on Friday, April 17 in Salt Lake City, Utah, against Westminster University and then travels to Grand Junction, Colo., for a 12 p.m. game against Colorado Mesa.

The ThunderWolves, who is led by fourth-year head coach Taylor Ward, comes into the final week of the regular season still alive for the final spot in the RMAC Tournament as the Pack is sporting a 5-9 overall record and are 2-6 in the league following its 18-7 Senior Day home win over Fort Lewis. The Pack would need to win both of its games this weekend and have Colorado Mesa lose both of their games as they also host Fort Lewis on Friday, or get into a tiebreaker situation and win the goal differential as the Pack would need to win by four or more goals against CMU to get into the tournament.

Entering the final weekend of the regular season, the Pack continue to be one of the top offensive teams in the league as they have scored 162 goals in 14 game and are averaging 11.57 goals per game. The 162 goals are third-most in the league. In addition, the Pack also leads the league in draw controls with 195 and is averaging 13.9 per game. The 162 goals and 195 draws are fifth and sixth respectively on the school's single-season charts.

The Pack is also second in the league in shooting percentage (43.5 percent) and is also second in the league in shots on goal per game (21.87).

Sophomore attacker Emily Doane (Lake Forest, Calif./El Toro) leads the ThunderWolves offensively with 35 goals and 49 total points. She is sixth in the league in goals and third in the league in points and points per game (3.5). Doane's 35 goals are tied for fifth on the school's single-season chart, while her 49 points are tied with Leah Neumann for fourth on the school's single-season chart. The single-season school record for goals is 40 set by Emily Eller in 2021 and the single-season record for points is 53 set by Allison Wurscher in 2016.

In addition to Doane, freshman midfielder Ainsley Jackson (Anaheim, Calif./Canyon) has scored 27 goals and leads the team in draws with 53, which is tied for ninth on the school's single-season chart, while sophomore midfielder Sydney Gunnels (Dallas, Texas/Coppell) has scored 25 goals and has 10 assists for 35 points and junior midfielder Sophia Rinn (Eagle, Colo./Eagle Valley) has scored 19 goals and had six assists for 25 points. Overall, seven Pack players have scored double-digit goals on the season.

Along with leading the league in draw controls, the Pack also continues to lead the league in ground balls with 360 and are averaging 25.7 per game. Freshman defender Maelynn Saucedo (Eastvale, Calif./Eleanor Roosevelt) leads with 36, while junior midfielder Reese Wasmund (Portland, Ore./West Linn) is second with 32 and redshirt freshman Sienna Rinn (Eagle, Colo./Eagle Valley) has had 29. The 360 ground balls are second-most on the school's single-season chart and just 19 shy of the school's single season record of 379 set in 2018.

Defensively, the Pack is allowing 13.36 goals per game and is second in the league in caused turnovers with 166 as they are averaging 11.9 per game. The 166 caused turnovers are third on the school's single-season charts. Junior defender Dylan Retzloff (Bend, Ore./Mountain View) leads the way with 28, while Saucedo is second with 27 and Gunnels is third with 15. Retzloff's 28 caused turnovers are tied fifth-most on the school's single-season chart, while Saucedo's 27 are eighth on the school's single-season charts.

Junior Breonna Mason (Colorado Springs, Colo./Air Academy) has played in 10 games in goal this season and has recorded 80 saves, 27 ground balls and seven caused turnovers, while tallying a 37.4 save percentage and a 14.13 goals against average. Mason has now recorded 428 career saves, which is second on the school's career charts.

ABOUT WESTMINSTER
Westminster comes into Friday's home match-up with the Pack sporting a 7-5 overall record and a 5-3 mark in the RMAC. Since winning six straight games, the Griffins have dropped two straight games as they lost 18-6 at Colorado Mesa on April 3 and 16-5 last time out at Regis.

As a team, Westminster averages 12.09 goals per game and has scored 133 goals in 11 contests. In addition, Westminster is second in the league in assists per game (5.83) and is third in points per game (17.67) and is second in shots per game (28.83).

Junior attacker Jordan Williamson leads the team in goals with 24 and is tied in assists with 11 as she has tallied 35 points. In addition to Williamson, junior attacker Olivia Petrosky has tallied 22 goals and 11 assists for 33 points and sophomore attacker Holly Shoughro has had 20 goals and eight assists for 28 points. Sophomore attacker Ava Deakins has totaled 11 assists and eight goals for 19 points.

The Griffins have recorded 134 draws and picked up 270 ground balls this season as freshman midfielder Jessie Giacimazzi has recorded 24 draws and 12 ground balls, while sophomore midfielder Jadyn Kohan has had 16 draws and 12 ground balls respectively, while junior defender Marianna Dick has picked up 31 ground balls and sophomore defender Gabriella Dedes has had 23 ground balls.

Defensively, Westminster leads the league in caused turnovers per game as they are averaging 13.00 per game and have caused 149 in 11 games. Dick leads the way with a league-leading 44 caused turnovers as she is averaging 4.0 per game. In addition, the Griffins have been particularly efficient clearing the ball, converting at an .84.1 percentage rate.

The Griffins have played three goalies this season with freshman Sienna Garcia being the primary goalie as she has played 304 minutes in net and has tallied 31 saves and a 13.22 GAA, while freshman Kaitlyn Parish has played 224-plus minutes in net and has tallied 29 saves and an 11.50 GAA.

Westminster is coached by first-year head coach Ashley Tack. Prior to becoming the Griffins' head coach, Tack spent three seasons as an assistant at Westminster. In her first season, Tack has compiled a 7-5 record and is 5-3 in RMAC play.

Sunday's game will mark the second game this season and the 16th all-time in the series between the two schools with Westminster holding an 11-4 advantage in the series. The Griffins have won seven straight games in the series and eight of the last 10 match-ups overall, including picking up a 17-11 win in Pueblo earlier this season.

COLORADO MESA
Colorado Mesa, who shared the regular season RMAC title last season with Regis and was tabbed to finish tied for first with Regis in the Preseason RMAC Coaches' Poll, has struggled this season as the Mavericks enter the weekend sporting a 4-11 overall record and a 3-5 mark in the RMAC. Since picking up an 11-8 road win over the Pack on March 27, the Mavericks have posted a 2-3 record, including entering this week's action having lost two games at UCCS (8-7) and at Regis (14-8). The Mavericks host Fort Lewis on Friday, before facing the ThunderWolves on Sunday.

Despite their struggles in the win column, Colorado Mesa has been strong on both ends of the field as they are averaging 10.07 goals per game and allowing just 10.80 goals per game. In addition, CMU is shooting 36.4 percent on the season and is averaging 27.7 shots per game, which is third-best in the league.

Senior attacker Carson Dickey leads the Mavericks offensively with 28 goals and has had six assists for 34 total points. In addition to Dickey, senior attacker Devon Morris has scored 22 goal and has had eight assists for 30 points and sophomore attacker Kaylee Kittle has scored 20 goals. Senior attacker Courtney Havel leads the team with 11 assists and has added 18 goals for 30 points. The Mavericks have recorded 57 assists on their 151 goals this season.

CMU has played a lot of close games this season, including one-goal losses to Rockhurst (14-13), at UCCS (8-7) and  at home to UCCS (8-7) and two-goal losses to Northern Michigan (9-7) and Missouri Western (9-7). In fact, 10 of their 11 losses have come by six or fewer goals. Their largest loss was a 17-7 setback in the season opener at Saint Leo.

The Mavericks have tallied 158 draws on the season with sophomore midfielder Avery Irlbeck leading the way with 44 draws, while senior midfielder Sophie Astone has had 32 draws.

Defensively, sophomore goalkeeper Heather Hawkins has logged 904-plus minutes in net for CMU and has recorded 139 saves and a 46.0 save percentage and leads the team in ground balls with 42. As a team, the Mavs have collected 280 ground balls and caused 125 turnovers this season.

Colorado Mesa is coached by Ashley Delaney, who is in third season as the Mavericks head coach. In her time directing CMU's program, Delaney has compiled a 26-24 record and has led the Mavs to two straight RMAC Tournament runner-up finishes and a share of the RMAC regular season title in 2025. Prior to becoming the program's head coach, Delaney spent four seasons as an assistant coach for the Mavericks.

Sunday's game will mark the second meeting this season and 21st all-time meeting between the two schools as CMU has won all previous 20 meetings in the series, including earning an 11-8 win in Pueblo earlier this season. In that game, the Pack led 7-6 heading into the final period, before the Mavs outscored the Pack 4-2 in the final period to secure the victory. Gunnels, Doane and freshman attacker Hillary Grehan (Winnipeg, Manitoba/Murdoch MacKay Collegiate) each had two goals against the Mavericks.