GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. – With four games left in the regular season, the No. 11 Colorado Mesa men's soccer team will enjoy the upcoming weekend series at home, playing host to South Dakota Mines and Regis on Friday and Sunday, respectively.

12 seniors will also be honored prior to Friday's 4 p.m. kickoff against South Dakota Mines.

Live stats and stream for both games can be accessed at the links above.

Weekend Wrap Up
Splitting time at home and on the road last week did not phase the Mavericks as they claimed a 2-0 victory over Westminster in a Wednesday night matchup, followed up by a five-goal shutout at MSU Denver.

Daisuke Takanaka got the weekends scoring underway just 2.5 minutes into the Westminster match, giving the Mavericks an early lead over a scrappy Griffins squad. Following that goal, both teams possessed a defensive mentality withholding each other from scoring.

The Mavs second goal would come late in the second half, as Colton Shafer chipped a ball over the last line of defense, meeting Alec Fronapfel on the run and into scoring position. The teams were evenly matched across the board, CMU taking a 4-3 edge in shots on goal – but each team with seven fouls, and four kicks.

A weekend sweep was made complete two days later, when CMU put five past the Roadrunners of MSU Denver.

Fernando Morales led the way with a brace and an assist, Jannick Lange, Fronapfel and Shafer also in on the team's scoring.

Fronapfel collaborated with Joey Joiner in the 26^th minute put up the first tally of the afternoon. In the 40^th minute, Lange put back his third goal of the season in the midst of traffic in the box.
With a 2-0 advantage going into the second half, Shafer gave his team a three-goal cushion in the 59^th minute, making the most of a second chance deflection. Morales' pair of goals came within minutes of each other, giving way to the Mavs second five-goal performance of the season.

Record Breakers
The team's nine goals scored against Adams State, took the cake for most goals scored in a single game by the Mavericks. The previous record was set back in Sept. 28, 2012 when the Mavs put seven past Colorado Christian. Six different players scored in that outing, Brandon Burton leading the way with a pair in the win.

That same game set the record in points with 20, behind a culmination of the seven goals and six assists.
36 shots were taken on Sunday, which also matched the program record set just about six years prior, also against Colorado Christian.
Mireles' three assists matched a program high, the last current player to do it was Ramses Atahualpa back in Sept. 2019 against Northwest Nazarene.

Elliot and Mireles each tallied five points, tied for 7^th most in a single-game. The most recent to do it was Alec Fronapfel when he put together five points against Regis on April 17, 2021 with a pair of goals and an assist.

A Look at the Herd
The Mavericks have compiled 39 goals, refusing to give opponents no more than eight goals. After surpassing the 100-shot mark after the first meeting with Fort Lewis, they have eclipsed 200-shots, now averaging 17.2 per-game. Of their total shots, they have placed 110 on target for a .456 SOG percentage.
Offensively, they pose threat getting into scoring territory and keeping ball in the opponent's half with an 90-61 edge in corner kicks.

As one of two teams in the conference with unblemished records, and conceding just single digit goals, they lead the conference in scoring average at 2.78. In 14 games, they edge out Colorado School of Mines with 110 shots on goal, for an average of 7.86.

In terms of goals, the Mavericks have tallied 10 game winners and were the first to strike on 10 different occasions, coming away with two overtime goals. Now with 35 assists, they remain atop the RMAC, just shy of averaging three per game.

Defensively, they sit atop the RMAC boasting a .565-goals against average. As previously mentioned, they have allowed just eight goals by opponents, tallying eight shutouts in process. The Maverick back line has held strong, taking off some of the pressure put on CMU goalkeeper Connor Durant. Durant sports a .470-goals against average, behind 45 saves and an .882 save percentage to lead the conference.

Top-10
Ranked 11^th in the recent United Soccer Coaches poll, the men in maroon and gold have put together stats that rank among the best in the country.

The team's 42 assists not only lead the RMAC, but the country as well. Adding the teams 39 goals into the mix, their 120 points ranks second in the country. Speaking of goals, they rank third in that respective category, not far behind the leaders Charleston (WV) and Franklin Pierce who have 40-on the season.

With a .565 team goals against average, CMU sits sixth in the country. Their .571 shutout percentage and 17.21 shots per game are ninth best in the country.
It doesn't stop there, with an average of 3.00 assists per game, and an .857 save percentage CMU also sits fifth in both those categories. At an average of 8.57 points per game, they sit seventh nationally.

Alec Fronapfel's four game-winners put him fourth in the national ranks. Connor Durant also amongst the nation top goalkeepers, fourth in goals against average (.470) and third in save percentage (.882) and shutouts (7).

Spreading the Wealth
17 different players are behind the team's 39 goals, leading the way is redshirt sophomore Alec Fronapfel with seven. The Fort Collins native picked up where he left off last season, extending his scoring streak to five with goals in the first to games of the season. His heroics in the overtime thriller against Texas A&M International, gave way to a 5-0 start to the season.

Fronapfel is just one of 11 players who have multiple goals on the season, amidst them is Fernando Morales (4) and Chris Boyd, Joey Joiner, David Peters each with three goals thus far.

After a collecting four assists last weekend, Leo Mireles now leads the team in that category with five. John Roberts and Raymond Jackson are not far behind with four a piece, multiple others dishing out help to the Mavs offense.

United Soccer Coaches Poll
Following an impressive 6-1-1 spring season, that saw the Mavericks capture a share of the RMAC Regular season title, the United Soccer Coaches preseason poll saw CMU come in at No. 21.

With two more wins under the belt and a clean conference record, the Mavericks inched up to No. 11 in the recent USC National Poll, with a 10-2 overall record. Colorado School of Mines reentered the poll last week, and moved up to No. 22 at 11-3 overall and the other undefeated team in the league.

Scouting the Hardrockers
The Hardrockers are looking for their first conference win, and first win in 11-games. After opening season with a win and a draw against St. Cloud State, the team hit a snag suffering 11-straight losses. Six of their downfalls have been decided by just a single goal, including a 1-0 decision last weekend to Colorado Christian.
George Martinez has been a bright spot for the Hardrockers, netting six goals, accompanied by two assists. The senior midfielder holds the third most shots in a league, averaging 3.00 per game and just under two between the posts. The other half of the team's goals are distributed between six other players.
Tyler Ring has 80 saves under his belt, having faced 230 shots as the team's go-to net minder. He leads the RMAC averaging 6.38 saves per game.

Series History
Dating back to 2013 when the teams first met, the Mavericks hold a 9-0-1 record in the overall series. 2016 marks the only draw in the series playing on the road in Rapid City. The following five meetings have all gone the way of CMU, the last two coming by 4-0 decisions.

Scouting the Rangers
At 7-5-1 overall, the Regis Rangers are split 3-3 in the RMAC loop. Not to be counted out, they claimed a 2-1 win over then No. 4 Colorado School of Mines just two games into season and last weekend took them to the limit before a penalty kick decided the final 3-2 score. A last-minute goal at Colorado Christian set them back earlier in the weekend.

Vilhjalmur Kaldal netted both of the Ranger goals against Mines. The University of Wisconsin Green Bay transfer and Reykjavik, Iceland native has produced a team and conference tying leading eight goals. His 42 shots are also the most in the league.
The Rangers have got back and forth between Cooper Erickson and Tim Dolan in goal. Erickson with a couple of shutouts, Dolan getting the start at Mines, recording five saves in the loss.

Series History
The overall series sits at 12-10-3 in favor of the Mavericks. Back track to the spring, CMU took both meetings the first by a 5-0 score to claim a share of the regular season title, and then put together a 3-1 win over the Rangers to advance to the RMAC Championship,

RMAC Preseason Poll
The Maverick men picked up five first-place votes and were favored in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Preseason Poll. Colorado School of Mines matched the Mavericks first-place votes, both teams expected to finish at the top of conference.

The Orediggers came in at No. 8 in the United Soccer Coaches (USC) preseason poll, and have since moved up to No. 4. CSU Pueblo took the No. 3 spot, followed by Fort Lewis who picked up a first-place vote, coming in at No. 4.

Season Two
Head coach Jon Fridal enters his first fall season at the helm of Colorado Mesa men's soccer. Hired in December of 2020, he coached the Mavericks throughout the condensed 2021 spring season where the team finished 5-0-1 in conference play and earned hosting rights to the RMAC Tournament. The team appeared in the championship match, finishing the season with a 6-1-1 record.

After capturing a share of the RMAC regular season title, Fridal was named RMAC Coach of the Year. Ethan Anderson and Brendan Brown also headlined the postseason honors, grabbing Co-Defensive Player of the Year and Goalkeeper of the Year.

Along with Anderson and Brown, Fridal coached two other RMAC First Team members in Daisuke Takanaka and Alec Fronapfel, with Isa Trujillo rounding out the honorees on the All-RMAC Honorable Mention team.

In addition to their on-field accomplishments, eight players picked up RMAC All-Academic Honors, and two being named to the CoSIDA Academic All-District team.