SALT LAKE CITY, Utah –The Colorado Mesa Mavericks (10-7, 4-2) advanced to the final game of the 2019 RMAC Tournament after defeating CSU-Pueblo 18-11 Friday afternoon. This will be the Mavericks fourth consecutive year in the championship game as they are seeking their fourth consecutive RMAC Tournament Championship.
Nine different Mavericks recorded goals and Michael Marino totaled a season high 19 ground balls. Joe Wulforst IV had an outstanding game which included a career high six points that was made up of a career high four goals and two assists. The Half Hallow, N.Y. native recorded the opening goal of the game and had a hat trick by halftime. He took nine shot, seven of which were on goal and totaled two ground balls.
Jack Griffin and Brandon Wilson tied for the next most points on the team at four. Griffin recorded two goals and two assists while Wilson recorded three assists and one goal.
Marino's season high ground balls were due to his performance during faceoffs as he went 21-of-33 and was the only Maverick responsible for faceoffs.
The Mavericks defense caused a total of nine turnovers. Ryder Clark led the way defensively with three caused turnovers.
The Mavs and ThunderWolves were even scoring to open the game as it was tied 2-2 after the first five minutes. After this the Mavs held on to a lead throughout the game. By the end of the first quarter the Mavericks were up 7-3 and had scored on three extra man opportunities with goals coming from Jake Keyes, Wulforst, and Griffin.
In the second quarter the Mavericks scored two more times on extra man opportunities which completed their perfect 5-of-5 opportunities throughout the game. Keyes tallied his second goal of the game again off an extra-man opportunity. By halftime the Mavs led 12-6.
During the third quarter the Mavs were outscored 4-3 and allowed the ThunderWolves to score on man-up opportunity which was their one and only of the game.
In the final quarter Beau Lansdown recorded his second goal of the game and Jason Kauo registered back-to-back goals to close out the game and give the Mavericks their 17thand 18thgoal.
Cherry Named Summit Award Winner
Prior to today's game against the ThunderWovles Christian Cherry was given the Summit Award which is presented to the student-athlete with the highest cumulative gpa participating in the final's site for each of the RMAC Championships.
To be eligible for the award, student-athletes must be a sophomore or above, who participated in their sport for at least two years with their school. They must also be an active member of the team, traveling and competing at the championship.
In today game Cherry recorded eight saves and only allowed four goals. This season he has recorded a team high seven saves.
A Look at Tomorrow's Game
The Mavericks will face No. 1 seed Westminster in the Championship game of the RMAC Tournament which will take place Saturday at 2 pm. This will also be Westminster's fourth consecutive trip to the championship game as they have fallen to Colorado Mesa each of the past three years.
The Mavericks have yet to defeat Westminster this season. In their first meeting in Salt Lake City the Mavericks lost 14-8 and when the Griffins traveled to Grand Junction the Mavs lost 14-10.
The Griffins are led by Nick Marcy who currently has 75 points on the season which is made up of 28 goals and 47 assists. The Griffin's roster includes the RMAC attacker of the year, Kolton Atkinson who has recorded 51 goals this season, and the RMAC defender of the year Grant Phillips who has caused 19 ground balls and 19 caused turnovers.
