Colorado College has a perfect opportunity to build upon the program's championship culture when the Tigers play host to Southwestern University in the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference women's lacrosse championship game on Sunday, May 1, on Washburn Field at noon MT.

CC and Southwestern will battle for the conference crown for the third time since the SCAC reinstated women's lacrosse as a conference sport in 2019, which also marked the last time the championship game was contested in Colorado Springs.

The Tigers won that meeting 18-1, which was one of the team's school-record 18 victories and .900 winning percentage that season. CC also earned the program's 11th appearance in the 2021 NCAA Division III Women's Lacrosse Championship.

After the 2020 conference tournament was cancelled due to the Covid Pandemic, Colorado College came back to win the 2021 championship with a 21-7 victory over the Pirates in a game played at the University of Dallas.

The Tigers, who claimed the first SCAC championship in 2012 with a 10-9 win over host Sewanee, has never lost a game in the conference tournament. CC is 5-0 overall and 3-0 in championship games.

On the other hand, Southwestern is 2-2 overall, but 0-2 against the Tigers and has been outscored 39-8 in those two previous meetings.

All told, Colorado College is 8-0 all-time against SU, which includes a 3-0 mark in games played in Colorado Springs.

The teams have one common opponent this season, both having played at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls. The Pirates dropped a 19-7 result to UWRF on April 15, while CC defeated the Falcons, 18-13, on April 23, in the second of back-to-back games that day.

In addition to playing two games in less than six hours, the young Tigers displayed tremendous growth by not losing their focus when each contest was disrupted by inclement weather.

CC, which played a national schedule that included three games against teams ranked in the IWLCA's Top 25 and six against opponents who earned a spot in the 2021 NCAA Division III Women's Lacrosse Championship, has continued to improve at both ends of the field.

Despite having multiple starters sidelined with injuries and medical situations, the Tigers are 9-8 overall and just one win away from recording double-digit victories for the ninth consecutive full season.

Colorado College's balanced attack features a blend of newcomers and veterans, 10 of whom have recorded double-digit goals and eight who have struck for 20 or more goals.

First-year attacker Tobin Lonergan leads the team with 39 goals and 56 points, and is third with 17 assists. Last week against UW-La Crosse, she reached the 50-point plateau, which marked the 36th time in program history a Tiger achieved that level of production in a single season. She finished the weekend tied for 24th place with 56.

A pair of transfers also rank among the team's statistical leaders. First-year attacker Peyton Murphy is second with 26 goals and third with 32 points, while sophomore midfielder Devon Ortman is second with 38 points and 19 assists, and sixth with 19 goals.

She also leads CC with 77 draw controls and is tied for first among the field players with 32 ground balls.

Bella Scola is third with 24 goals and sixth with 28 points, both of which are career highs, while Courtney Zell is fourth with 20 goals, tied for fourth with 30 points and fifth with 10 assists, all three of which are career bests.

Maggie O'Donnell leads CC with 22 assists and is tied for fourth with 30 points. The senior attacker now ranks third in program history with 71 assists and 18th in with 132 points.

In the defensive zone, freshman Evelyn-Baher Murphy has a team-high 20 caused turnovers and is tied for fourth with 23 ground balls. Senior Natalie Schluter is tied for first among the field players with 32 ground balls and second with 16 caused turnovers, both of which are career highs.

Last but not least, Natalie Slade has an 8-8 record, 12.79 goals-against average and a .467 saves percentage. The junior goaltender has recorded double-digit saves on eight occasions, with a season high of 18 during the season opener at Rhodes College.