GOLDEN, Colo.- The Colorado Mesa Mavericks advanced to the championship match of the 2018 Rocky Mountain Athletic Tournament after defeating Westminster 2-1. The Mavericks used the first over time to do so. James McGhee put the Mavericks up early with a header in the first half. Lawan Abary netted the goal in overtime that put the Mavericks into the finals of the RMAC tournament for the second consecutive year.
Recap
To begin the match the Mavericks defended three shots and Briley Guarneri recorded one save before the Mavericks were able to possess the ball and attempted a shot. Peter Vandam took the Mavericks first shot which was too wide for a shot on goal.
Following this the Maverick's attempted two more shots before senior James McGhee headed in the first goal of the game. On the Mavericks first corner kick of the game Kevin Del Mazo connected with McGhee for his tenth assist of the year and McGhees sixth goals of the season.
The Mavericks went back and forth for the first 17 minutes of the second half before the Griffins netted the equalizing goal.
After the tying goal the Mavericks took one more shot and were granted one corner kick but nothing resulted in a goal.
It only took three minutes of overtime for Lawan Abary to net the game winning goal. Guarneri booted the ball down field and found Abary. He only need one touch to beat the goalkeeper and net his fourteenth goal of the season. This was his fourth game winning goal of the season. With this goal Guarneri recorded the first assist of his career.
Sunday's Championship Match
The No. 3 seed Mavericks will face the No. 1 seed Colorado School of Mines on Sunday for the championship match of the 2018 RMAC Tournament. These two teams saw each other last year in the championships match of the 2017 RMAC Tournament.
The two teams have accounted for the last five RMACÂ regular season championships and the last six RMACÂ tournament championships.
The last time the Mavericks won the RMAC Tournament was in 2016 after defeating Regis University 1-0.
The championship match will take place Sunday afternoon at 2:30 pm in Golden, Colo. at Stermole Soccer Stadium.
