Athletes of the Week: CMU Women’s Soccer
GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. (KKCO) - The Colorado Mesa Mavericks Women’s Soccer Team is playing their best, at the right time.
The Mavs are Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Tournament Champions after a historic 3-0 victory in the championship game over Colorado Mines Orediggers, avenging a loss from earlier in the season.
“I think that we were just excited for the opportunity to perform on this stage. And when you when you get the opportunity to play at any level, D1, D2, D3, whatever you’re playing at. It’s just a privilege. And seeing all the kids after the game reminds us is like the reason why we play, and the semifinal game was fun. And it was good to be here. And it was good to be at home have this environment and like that’s the energy and the like the life we needed to get us where we want it to be,” Redshirt Junior Forward Sauveleyne Randel said.
“I feel like the team was feeling super good. We were ready, we felt prepared. And we were just excited to go out and play have some fun. And of course, the win was awesome,” Sophomore Forward Kylie Wells said.
The Mavericks seemed to have learned something from their 4-0 loss to Colorado Mines earlier in the season, scoring three times on a Oredigger defense that had not surrendered a goal since October 1. The Mavericks loss to Colorado Mines, a 4-0 shutout loss was during that stretch.
“I think that we really reflected on the first time we played them. And we I remember talking to Kylie Wells and other teammates, just get opportunities to be in front of the goal and I was like I don’t even remember her (Colorado Mine’s Kepper) making a save. I don’t remember putting their backline under ever,” Randel said.
Wells had the third and final goal of the game against Colorado Mines, that was the nail in the coffin.
“We talked about the whole team was on the same page that the third goal was in the game was the biggest goal. Whether it was us or them we just thought it was really important that we got the next one,” Wells said.
On the defensive side of the ball, the Mavericks were in total control as well, shutting down the Orediggers. According to the Mavs on the attacking side we spoke to, the strong defensive play helped fuel their offense.
“Our defense was incredible in that game played awesome. So I think just applying pressure and not letting their players like get time space on the ball to like do what they do best,” Wells said.
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