GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. – The Colorado Mesa University men's soccer team will play at Walker Field this weekend against Dixie State University and Westminster College. The Mavericks just recently swept their road matches last weekend defeating MSU-Denver and Colorado Christian and improved their RMAC record to 3-0-1. With these two wins, the Mavericks have now strung three consecutive wins together which they will take into this weekend's RMAC matches.
Ramses Atahualpa leads the Mavericks with six points this season. He has recorded four assists this season, which leads the conference averaging 0.67 assists per game. Alec Fronapfel leads the team with three goals, which is tied for ninth in the RMAC.
The Mavericks backline has been solid all season as Noah Rosenberg and Chris Boyd are the only Mavericks to have started every game this season along with senior goalkeeper Brendan Brown who has a 0.83 goals against average and 21 saves this season. His goals against average is currently third best in the RMAC behind Fort Lewis College and Westminster's goalkeepers. Freshman Matt Rhoads has been a big part of the defense having starting the past six consecutive games and playing over 500 minutes.
About Dixie State
The Trailblazers of Dixie State (4-3-1, 3-1-0 RMAC) will travel to Grand Junction on Friday with a three game winning streak, the same winning streak the Mavericks have. In those three consecutive wins, Dixie has outscored their opponents 10-3.
The Trailblazers are led by Moises Medina and John Joseph. Medina leads the team with four goals and two assists. He has one of the highest shots on goal percentage of anyone on the team at 61.1%. Joseph, who won RMAC offensive Player of the Week this week, has three goals and one assists on the year. These two combined for seven of the team's 13 goals, which all have been recorded in conference games.
As a team Dixie State allows 13.3 shots per game from opponents but limits them to just a 51.9 shots on goal percentage. In the net, Zach Nielson has played every minute for the Trailblazers and has recorded 1.20 goals against average.
The Mavericks are 5-2 all-time against Dixie State and have defeated them the past three consecutive times dating back to 2012.
About Westminster
The Griffins are one of two undefeated RMAC teams. They have a perfect 4-0 RMAC record entering this weekend and a 6-2 overall record. The Griffins will play Fort Lewis on Friday night before playing the Mavericks at 1:30 pm on Sunday at Walker Field.
The Griffins have shutout each of their four RMAC opponents to begin the season 4-0. Danny Darelli who has recorded seven goals this season with a 65.0 shots on goal percentage leads the Griffins. The Griffins limit their opponents to 0.62 goals per game.
This season they are a 2-for-2 on penalty kicks both of which were taken by their leading goal scorer Darelli.
The last time the Mavericks and Griffins matched up was in the semifinals of the 2018 RMAC Tournament where the Mavericks won 2-1 in OT.
Up Next
The Mavericks will travel next weekend for games against Regis University and UCCS. Those games will be played on Oct 11 and Oct 12 at the respective school.
