GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. – Off to a 2-0 start in conference play, the Colorado Mesa men's soccer team returns to their home turf this weekend looking to build on their streak. On Friday they will meet up with a familiar foe in Fort Lewis, whom stole a win two weekends prior in a non-conference contest. The Mavericks will then host the Adams State Grizzlies for a midday matchup on Sunday.

Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. Friday, and 12 p.m. Sunday. Live stats and video stream can be accessed at the links above.

Rewind to Last Week
The Mavericks faced a tough task in their conference opener, going up against then No. 19 CSU Pueblo who was riding a three-game win streak, which included victories over Colorado School of Mines and Regis.

CSUP held the 13-8 edge in shots, and placed one more ball on target but would be turned away. CMU however would come away with the decisive goal in the 65^th-minute off the foot of Alec Fronapfel. Daisuke Takanaka was in on the help, sprinting down the sideline before crossing a pass towards the goal. In the midst of three possible scorers, two acted as a decoy for Fronapfel who finished it off for his fifth goal on the season.

The undefeated start was made complete on Sunday, when the team took down the UCCS Mountain Lions, 3-1.

Colton Shafer notched his first of goal of the seasonin the 38^th minute. Less than a minute later, David Peters headed one just out of the reach of the keeper to push the Mavs lead to two.

A PK later on in the second, cut the lead in half and would be the only goal for UCCS.

Daisuke Takanaka would add another insurance goal in the 75^th-minute, his first of the season.

A Look at the Herd
The Mavericks have three times as many goals as their opponents, averaging just over two per game. They have surpassed the 100-shot mark, taking just about 14 per game and landing 67 of the shots on frame.

Offensively, they pose threat getting into scoring territory and keeping ball in the opponent's half with a 64-43 edge in corner kicks.

As one of three team in the conference with unblemished records, they hold the third best scoring average in the RMAC as 2.1, and have the second lowest number of goals allowed at seven. In 10 games, they edge out CSU Pueblo with their 67 shots on goal.

In terms of goals, the Mavericks have secured eight game winners and were the first to strike on nine different occasions. The 22 assists lead the RMAC, and average over two per game. In their last outing, the Mavs had double assists on each of their goals scored.

Spreading the Wealth
13 different players are behind the team's 21 goals, leading the way is redshirt sophomore Alec Fronapfel with five. 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.

Chris Boyd follows up with three goals, Ethan Anderson and David Peters not far behind with two.

Raymond Jackson has a team high four assists, his power behind throw ins resulting in some key scores for the team. John Roberts adds three assists, multiple others dishing out help to the Mavs offensive attack.

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.

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.

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.

After slipping into the receiving votes category, the win over CSU Pueblo put CMU back into the mix, shooting up to No. 15 in the week 5 poll. CSUP moved to No. 24 and is the only other RMAC team earning national recognition.

Scouting the Skyhawks
At 4-4-1 overall, one of the those wins came against CMU two weekends ago in a non-conference contest. Since then they have suffered setbacks from Westminster and Colorado School of Mines, but used three goals to down Colorado Christian for a 1-1 weekend entering league play.

Gabriel Legendre who was behind the game-winner two weeks ago, went on a three-game scoring streak which involved a two-goal showing against Colorado Christian. The freshman has placed five into the twine, to go along with a pair of assists for a team leading 12 points.

In goal, Peter Byrne has collected 27 saves for a .711 save percentage. In the first meeting, he made a season high seven stops on the way to the win.

Series History
The Skyhawks have been a sore spot in the Mavericks schedule, taking the last two meetings each by one goal differences. Three out of the last seven meetings have ended in ties.

Colorado Mesa's last true win over FLC came in 2017 in the RMAC Semifinal when Malik Mennana netted the game-winner to lift his team to the RMAC Championship for the third straight season.

Scouting the Grizzlies
The Grizzlies captured their first win in an overtime thriller over South Dakota Mines back on Sept. 26. Eli Rome scored in the first two minutes of extra time to give his team the first win of the season.

At 1-8 on the season, the Grizzlies hit a skid in their first conference weekend. Six goals have come off the feet of different players, Bryan Fernandez leading the offense with a goal and an assist for three points.

Zach Carr has held strong between the posts, securing 26 saves in 79 shots faced. Logan Rabasca has come in and logged some minutes in goal, grabbing eight saves, making a season high five against Fort Lewis.

Series History
It will have been just about two years since the teams last met in 2019. With a 1-0 decision, the Mavs extended their win streak to 12 in the overall series history.