GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. – Post season play begins this weekend for the Colorado Mesa men's soccer team, as they host Regis on one side of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference tournament bracket.
Kickoff is set for 3 p.m. Sunday (Nov. 7) on Maverick Field.

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.

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 fifth best goals against average in the country at .592. The team has given up just 11 goals, while allowing just 73 shots on goal and 198 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 0.53-goals against average and a .864 save percentage to lead the conference, and ranks 4^th in the nation in both those categories, his eight solo shutouts ranking among the 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 47 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 16.9 per-game. Of their total shots, they have placed 134 on target for a .439 SOG percentage.

Offensively, they pose a threat getting into scoring territory and keeping ball in the opponent's half with an 110-74 edge in corner kicks.
They lead the conference in scoring average at 2.61, keeping opponents to a .61 average. In 18 games, they edge out Colorado School of Mines with 134 shots on goal, for an average of 7.44.

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 four equalizers. Now with 51 assists, they remain atop the RMAC, averaging just under three per game.
 
Defensively, they sit atop the RMAC boasting a .592-goals against average. As previously mentioned, they have allowed just 11 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 .53-goals against average, behind 57 saves and an .864 save percentage to lead the conference.

Top-10
Ranked 16^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 47 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 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 six games – which includes a brace against MSU Denver. Joey Joiner, Ethan Anderson, Chris Boyd, David Peters, Daisuke Takanaka, and Jannick Lange each have three, three 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 slid to No. 16 in the recent USC poll and are 14-3-1 overall.  Colorado School of Mines reentered the poll a couple weeks back, and took over the No. 12 spot.

In the Super Region 4 rankings, the Mavericks check in at No. 5, Mines coming in a No. 2. 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.

Ranger Recon
The Rangers will make their way back to Maverick Field for the second time this season, the last being just two weeks earlier on Oct. 24. In that meeting, the Mavs used two goals within the first 10-minutes of play to take home the shutout.

Coming in as the No. 6 seed, they upset No. 3 Westminster in Thursday's quarterfinal decided by just one goal off the boot of Michael Jimenez in the 30^th minute. The win was their 10^th of the season, and their third straight.

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.