Box Score When the Mavericks took the field Friday night at Walker Field against University of Colorado-Colorado Springs, they not only looked to shake off the 3-0 loss to #3 Fort Lewis just two days earlier, but the team looked for its first win of the season. The Mountain Lions denied that opportunity, however, as they defeated the Mavs, 1-0.
After a defensive battle to start the game, Mountain Lion sophomore Matthew Cox put UCCS on the board first with his third goal of the season. Other than the goal from Cox, UCCS and the Mavs weren't couldn't produce any more offense as the Mountain Lions led 1-0 at halftime. The Mavs could only manage two shots with only one of those being on goal. Goalkeeper Caleb Ealey saved four of UCCS five shots on goal.
“Every goal is a hard on to give up,” Ealey said. “I just would much rather get scored on on a goal that I know I couldn't block, not on a simple mistake.”
The second half started with the Mavericks controlling the pace. Even though they held the ball on offense for most of the first 15 minutes of the half, they were only able to manage one shot. UCCS was then able to take back control and hold off the Mavs at the end.
The Mavs finished with six shots, with just two on goal. Ealey saved seven of the eight shots he faced. Both teams played more aggressive in the second half as they both committed seven fouls. The Maverick defense held strong on all five corner kicks by the Mountain Lions as they didn't allow any goal off them.
“We just need to focus. We can't have these tiny mistakes losing it for us,” Ealey said. “If we can just able to play smarter we could have a winning record.”
With the loss, the Mavs drop to 0-7-1 on the season and 0-4 in conference play. They will finish the weekend Sunday at home against Adams State before going to Lakewood next Friday to play Colorado Christian.
