GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. – Just two games remain in the regular season for the Colorado Mesa men's soccer team, as they will head over Golden and Lakewood for this weekend's contest.
Friday will feature a long-awaited top-25 matchup between the Mavericks and the Colorado School of Mines Orediggers 5 p.m. at Stermole Soccer Stadium. They will then stay near by and head to Lakewood to take on Colorado Christian, Sunday at 12 p.m.

Weekend Wrap Up
In the weekend opener against South Dakota Mines, the Mavericks were fueled by four goals, three of which the team was responsible for and scored by different seniors who were honored before the game. The Mavs other goal was a miscue own goal by the Hardrockers in the 50^th minute.

Demetrio Baldo was the first to breakthrough in the 34^th-minute, sneaking in the back door to head in the eventual game-winner for CMU, tallying his first career goal. Ramses Atahualpa then added to the senior scorers on a chipped ball over the keeper in the 66^th-minute.

Probably one of the biggest highlights of Friday's game was the strike sent in by Nick Rizzo in 84^th-minute. Tristan Widic cleared up some space outside the 18-yard box, setting up
Rizzo who drilled a long range shot into the upper left corner for the team's fourth and final score of the day.

Sunday set up a tough matchup with the Regis Rangers, who were coming off a 1-0 loss to Westminster.

Wasting no time to get on the board, the Mavs went up by not one but two within the first 10-minutes of play.
Atahualpa set up at the corner, sent the ball across the box but awaiting was Isa Trujillo who headed it back in front of the frame to Alec Fronapfel who slipped it past the keeper's gloves.

Two minutes following the first goal, the trio of Atahualpa, Gabriel Peres and Fernando Morales put in the team's second.
Three Mavericks got in between the posts on the weekend, Connor Durant securing three saves to take a solo shutout, combining with Rhett Cook and Jordan Greer on the other.

A Look at the Herd
The Mavericks have compiled 45 goals, refusing to give opponents no more than eight. After surpassing the 100-shot mark after the first meeting with Fort Lewis, they are on the brink of hitting 300 shots, averaging 17.8 per-game. Of their total shots, they have placed 128 on target for a .451 SOG percentage.

Offensively, they pose threat getting into scoring territory and keeping ball in the opponent's half with an 105-66 edge in corner kicks.

As one of two teams in the conference without a loss in the loop, and the only team left to not allow opponents into double-digits, they lead the conference in scoring average at 2.81. In 16 games, they edge out Colorado School of Mines with 128 shots on goal, for an average of 8.00.

In terms of goals, the Mavericks have tallied 14 game winners and were the first to strike on 14 different occasions, coming away with two overtime goals and two equalizers. Now with 49 assists, they remain atop the RMAC, averaging three per game.

Defensively, they sit atop the RMAC boasting a .495-goals against average. As previously mentioned, they have allowed just eight goals by opponents, tallying 10 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 .413-goals against average, behind 48 saves and an .889 save percentage to lead the conference.

Top-10
Ranked 12^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 49 assists not only lead the RMAC, but the country as well. Add in the teams 45 goals into the mix, their 139 points continues to be the second most in the country. Speaking of goals, they rank third in that respective category, not far behind the leaders Charleston (WV) who has 50 on the season thus far.

With a .495 team goals against average and .625 shutout percentage rank fourth best in the country, and their 17.75 shots per game are sixth.
It doesn't stop there, with an average of 3.06 assists per game, and an .869 save percentage are fifth and third respectively. At an average of 8.69 points per game, they move into the

No. 6 spot nationally.

Alec Fronapfel's now five game-winners are second most in the national ranks. Connor Durant is also amongst the nation's top goalkeepers, sitting third in goals against average (.413), second in save percentage (.889) and fourth in shutouts with eight.

Spreading the Wealth
20 different players are behind the team's 45 goals, leading the way is redshirt sophomore Alec Fronapfel with eight. The Fort Collins native picked up where he left off last season, extending his scoring streak to five with goals in the first two 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. The next highest scorer being Fernando Morales who now has five, scoring in three of the last five games – which includes a brace against MSU Denver. Joey Joiner, Chris Boyd, David Peters and Jannick Lange each have three, five others with a pair to their credit.

In the assist column, Leo Mireles now leads the team with six. John Roberts, Raymond Jackson, and Joey Joiner are not far behind with four a piece, multiple others dishing out help to the Mavs offense.

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.

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 uphold a clean conference record, the Mavericks were tied at No.11 last week, this week coming in at No. 12 with a 14-2 overall record. Colorado School of Mines reentered the poll a couple weeks back, and moved up to No. 17.

Scouting the Orediggers
In a battle of the unbeaten, the Mavericks are looking to avenge their RMAC Championship loss from last spring on Friday, as the stage is set at Stermole Stadium. The Orediggers are 12-3-1 overall, 7-0-1 throughout conference play, dueling to a draw at CSU Pueblo.

It came down to the final 30-minutes last weekend, as Mines came from behind against UCCS, using five goals to avoid the loss.

Tristan Semelsberger and Gabe Rodriguez each account for six of the team's 43 goals. Lucas King contributing three, but primarily handling the assists – leading the conference with 10. Defender Patrick Allan, has logged the most minutes, coming up with a pair of goals up the field.
Brian Doherty and Kenneth Symmes have traded duties defending the net, combining for a 0.92-goals against average, and 15 goals allowed.

The Mavericks are seeking just their sixth win against the Orediggers in the overall history. Two of the last four meetings have gone into extra minutes, three of them going the way of Mines the other ending in a 1-1 draw.

2016 marked the last meeting when CMU came out on top, using two goals to shutout their rival.

Scouting the Cougars
Leading the all-time series 20-0-1, the Mavericks have won the last 15 meetings with the Cougars. Sunday will be the first meeting since 2019, with their paths not crossing in during the brief spring season.

On a two-game skid, CCU's most recent losses came in a shutout at UCCS, bouncing back to put two past CSU Pueblo but unable to come away with the win.

Senior, Liam Lakey is the team's go-to scorer with seven goals. Sophomore, Gabe Roloff scored the initial goals against CSUP, putting him at five for the season with two assists. Max Collingwood and Michel Pinoncely each have seven games under the belt as net minders, with 19 goals against and 34 saves between the two of them.
 
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.