GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. – The Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference tournament championship is set, as No. 2 seed Colorado Mesa will host No. 4 seed CSU Pueblo Saturday on Community Hospital Unity Field. Kickoff is set for 5 p.m.

Maverick fans can follow along with live stats and watch the stream at the links above. Tickets must be purchased through the conference office, the link provided above.

Bracket Breakdown
Claiming a No. 2 seed in the upcoming tournament the Mavericks secured a first-round bye in the 6-team pool.
Colorado School of Mines nabbed the regular season championship, and the No. 1 seed. Westminster entered at the No. 3 seed, followed by CSU Pueblo (No. 4) and MSU Denver (No. 6) with Regis rounding out the teams as the sixth and final seed.

Quarterfinal match ups were held on Thursday (Nov. 4) at the respective higher seeds. No. 6 Regis came away with the upset at No. 3 Westminster, advancing to Sunday's semi in Grand Junction.

On the other side, No. 4 CSU Pueblo took a decisive 5-2 win over No. 5 MSU Denver to set up a meeting with Mines in Golden.
Colorado Mesa claimed a 3-0 victory in their respective quarterfinal, thanks to goals from Colton Shafer, Fernando Morales and Ethan Anderson.

CSU Pueblo would upset Mines in the other semi behind a 2-0 decision which sets up Saturday's championship match.

Head to Head
The Mavericks will make their seventh appearance in the title game, their second consecutive making it in the Spring 2021 season. They are 2-4 in those matches, their last championship coming in 2016 when they defeated Regis. The four losses have all come at the hand of Mines, including an overtime loss last spring.

The Thunderwolves will make their first title game since 2017, and are seeking their first title after going 0-3 in their previous appearances.

In the overall series, the Mavericks lead with 14 wins, conceding just four losses and three ties. The previous nine meetings have all gone the way of the Mavericks, including this fall when CMU took a 1-0 win in Pueblo, the game winner coming from Alec Fronapfel, Daisuke Takanaka was in on the assist.

The teams did not cross paths during the spring season, and the last time they met in the RMAC Tournament was in the 2015 semifinal where the Mavs won 4-0.

Scouting the Thunderwolves
Vinzent Zingel leads the team with nine goals, and was the sole player behind both CSU Pueblo goals in the semifinal. He netted his first of the night just 30-seconds into play, and added an insurance goal in the 51^st-minute to secure the win. The sophomore forward earned All-RMAC First Team honors and ranks third on the team in shots with 58 and second in shots on goal with 22.

Two of the Thunderwolves defenders took home All-RMAC First Team honors in, Co-Freshman of the Year Lamar Bynum and Nick Burgess.
It will be a dog fight between the conferences top two keepers, as Mesa's Connor Durant sits first in goals against average a .501, with CSU Pueblo's Garret Wild with a .590 GAA. Each have nine shutouts to their credit, with Wild allowing 11 goals in 19 games to Durant's nine in 18 games.

Twice as Nice
Anderson was named the outright Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) Defensive Player of the Year after sharing the title last spring. The Highlands Ranch native has logged pitch time in all 18 games for the Mavericks, producing three goals and three assists in the process. Early on he recorded a brace in 5-0 shutout of Simon Fraser, and just recently net the equalizer against Colorado Christian on October 31. His assists came in the season opener against Texas Permian Basin (Sep. 2), adding his second and third against MSU Denver (Oct. 15). When he's not up field aiding in the offensive efforts, he is anchoring the Mavs defense that holds the fourth best goals against average in the country at .562. The team has given up just 11 goals, while allowing just 77 shots on goal and 211 shots in total by opponents.

Goalkeeper U
Named RMAC Goalkeeper of the Year, Durant is the fourth Maverick to receive the honor and keeps the title in Colorado Mesa's possession for the fourth consecutive season. Micah Conrads took home to award in 2013, Briley Guarneri followed up in 2018 and started the streak. Brendan Brown who preceded Durant, claimed back to back honors in 2019 and then again during the spring 2021 season.

Out of Westminster, Colorado, Durant has stepped into the role and played significant time between the pipes. With over 1,500 minutes logged, he's conceded just nine goals for a nations fourth best 0.50-goals against average and his .871 save percentage to leads the conference, and is second in all of Division II. His nine solo shutouts are third best in the nation as well. He's collected a season high seven saves on three separate occasions, and went five straight games without allowing a goal past.

A Look at the Herd
The Mavericks have compiled 50 goals, refusing to give opponents no more than 11. After surpassing the 100-shot mark after the first meeting with Fort Lewis, they exceeded 300 shots last weekend, averaging 17.2 per-game. Of their total shots, they have placed 143 on target for a .437 SOG percentage.

Offensively, they pose a threat getting into scoring territory and keeping ball in the opponent's half with an 117-78 edge in corner kicks.
They lead the conference in scoring average at 2.63, keeping opponents to a .58 average. In 19 games, they edge out Colorado School of Mines with 143 shots on goal, for an average of 7.53.

In terms of goals, the Mavericks have tallied 15 game winners and were the first to strike on each of the 15 outings. They came away with two overtime goals and four equalizers. Now with 54 assists, they remain atop the RMAC, averaging just under three per game.

Defensively, they sit atop the RMAC boasting a .562-goals against average, ahead of their opponent CSU Pueblo who is second at .577. As previously mentioned, they have allowed just 11 goals by opponents, tallying 11 shutouts in process. The Maverick back line has held strong, taking off some of the pressure put on CMU goalkeeper Durant..

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 51 assists lead the RMAC, and is the third best mark in the country. Add in the teams 47 goals into the mix, their 145 points continues are eighth most. With a .592 team goals against average and .556 shutout percentage rank fourth and seventh in those respective categories.
It doesn't stop there, with an average of 2.83 assists per game, and an .869 save percentage puts them fourth in both. At an average of 8.06 points per game, they sit in the ninth spot nationally.

Alec Fronapfel's now five game-winners are fifth most in the national ranks, five players tied for the national leader position with six. Connor Durant is also amongst the nation's top goalkeepers, coming in third in goals against average (.530), third in save percentage (.864) and fifth in shutouts with eight.

Spreading the Wealth
20 different players are behind the team's 50 goals, leading the way is redshirt sophomore Alec Fronapfel. 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. For the second year in a row, the forward was named to the All-RMAC First Team.

Fronapfel is just one of 10 players who have three or more goals on the season. The next highest scorer being Fernando Morales who pushed his season total to six after scoring the team's second goal in the semi. He has scored in four of the last seven games – which includes a brace against MSU Denver.

Off a free kick attempt, Ethan Anderson added his fourth goal of the season to his stat line and is one of three defenders who have converted offensively for the Mavericks.
Joey Joiner, Chris Boyd, David Peters, Daisuke Takanaka, and Jannick Lange each have three, two 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.

Despite the loss to Mines and a draw at Colorado Christian in closing weekend of conference play, the Mavericks moved back up into the No. 11 spot in the recent USC poll and are 15-3-1 overall.  

The winner of Saturday's championship will earn an automatic qualification spot to the NCAA Tournament.

A total of ten teams from the Super Region will qualify for the NCAA Tournament with automatic spots going to the champions of the five conferences in the Super Region.  The Pacific West Conference and Great Northwest Athletic Conference's representative are determined by the regular season standings while the LSC, RMAC and CCAA (California Collegiate Athletic Association) spots are awarded through the post-season tournaments.

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.