GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. – The Colorado Mesa Mavericks men's soccer team will host a pair of RMAC Mines schools this weekend as they are set to host South Dakota Mines on Friday at 4 pm and Colorado School of Mines on Sunday at 1:30 pm.
The Mavericks enter the weekend in fourth place with a 6-2-2 conference record. CSM leads the conference with an 8-0-2 record while South Dakota Mines is third from last with a 2-7-1 conference record.
Last time the Mavericks met up with the Orediggers was in the 2018 RMAC Tournament final game where CSM won 2-0. The two teams have accounted for the last five RMAC regular season championships and the last seven RMAC tournament championships.
All About the Mavs
Lawan Abary who has four goals on the season currently leads the Mavericks. He just recently netted his fourth goal in the Mavs most recent game against Dixie State where they defeated the Trailblazers 1-0. He has taken 26 shots and put 15 of them on frame, which also leads the team.
Next best is Alex Fronapfel who has scored three goals this season in just four shots on goal. Ramses Atahualpa leads the team with four assists, which is tenth in the RMAC.
Brendan Brown, the Mavericks starting goalkeeper for 12 of the team's 13 matches this season is third in the RMAC with a 0.723 goals against average and is second in saves at 82.0 percent.
He has been named RMAC Goalkeeper of the Week twice this year.
Scouting South Dakota Mines
Brenden Sherwin leads the Hardrockers with three goals and is followed by George Marinez who has recorded two goals and a team high 30 shots. As a team, they are averaging 0.92 goals per game and allowing 2.77 goals per game.
The Hardrockers enter Friday's match on a one game losing streak after falling to MSU Denver 4-0.
The Mavericks have never lost to the Hardrockers of SDSM and only tied with them once. They have defeated them the past three consecutive years by a combined score of 9-3.
Head coach Andrew Conniff will be highly familiar with this South Dakota Mines team as he was their head coach a season ago before his start at Colorado Mesa this season.
You can click the video above to hear more about his thoughts on the weekend along with midfielder Aaron Martinez and defender Chris Boyd.
Scouting Colorado School of Mines
The Orediggers enter the weekend ranked No.18 by the United Soccer Coaches Top 25. This is the first nationally ranked opponent the Mavericks have faced this season.
Ben Overholt who has recorded five goals this season, which is ninth best in the RMAC, leads the defending RMAC Champions this season. In the net, the Orediggers have combined for nine shutouts this season, more than any other RMAC school.
Senior goalkeeper Drew Johnson is responsible for eight of those nine shutouts and has recorded a 0.71 goals against average this season.
The Oredigger will enter this weekend on a three game winning streak and play Fort Lewis on Friday before the match on Sunday against the Mavs at 1:30 pm.
The Mavericks are seeking their first win over the Orediggers since 2016 as they have tied or fallen short since that 2016 meeting.
Up Next
The Mavs will close out the season against Adams State and Fort Lewis the following weekend. They will play Fort Lewis Friday November 1 in Durango before closing out the season at home against Adams Sate on November 3 at 1:30 pm where the team will celebrate senior day.
