GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. – The Colorado Mesa (7-1, 4-0 RMAC) men's lacrosse will play under the Friday night lights this week, playing host to long time rival Westminster on Maverick Field.
WHAT'S ON THE LINE
The Mavericks will look to continue their win streak, while also keeping their undefeated conference record in tact and earn the regular season title and the right to host next week's Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference tournament.
SWEEP OF THE WEEK
Not only did the Mavericks earn the season sweep over Adams State, with their 23-3 triumph, but the efforts by
Jake Keyes and
Cole Emmanuel gave Colorado Mesa the sweep of RMAC Player of the Week honors.
Keyes, picked up his first Offensive Player of the Week honor after racking up seven points, behind four goals and three assists. Both stats were a season high, with his goals making it back-to-back games with a 4-goal performance. The midfielder out of Verona, Wisc. sits second on the team in goals with 13, and is ninth in the conference averaging 1.63 goals per game.
Emmanuel got the nod for his second Defensive Player of the Week honor this season. He finished the weekend 13-of-16 in faceoffs, taking over half of attempts in the team's stats. He also grabbed a team high eight ground balls and aided in the Mavericks effort that limited Adams State to just three goals.
TAKE YOUR PICK
There are a handful of Maverick players who sport double-figure goals this season, with
Hunter Holcomb at the forefront with 15 goals, in addition to nine assists. Previously mentioned,
Jake Keyes follows with 13,
Carson Schwark with 12, with
Trent Pernell and
Jed Brummett rounding out the team's attack.
AJ Switzer and
James Steinke have gotten in on nine goals each, and lead the team in assists with 12 and 11, respectively.
Collectively, the Mavs have double the amount of goals as their opponents, and hold a 52-39 edge in shots per game.
SCOUTING THE GRIFFINS
Westminster (5-4, 3-1 RMAC) opened their season in Alabama, picking up wins over the University of Montevallo (15-8) and the University of Alabama Huntsville (11-10). After a pair of home contests against Division I opponents, they headed East matching up with Lake Erie College and Mercyhurst, who was ranked No. 3 at the time. They fell in both matches by close scores.
The skid continued when CMU took home the conference opener, but since then Griffins are riding a three-game win streak defeating Adams State twice and CSU Pueblo in RMAC action.
Merritt McMahon is go-to for Westminster's attack, racking up 20-goals on the season, producing a goal in all nine games thus far. Gabe Mein and Spencer Whinery have 11 and 13 goals to their stat line, while Andoni Odencrantz has dished out 18 assists to lead the team.
Goalkeeping duties have been split amongst three players, with senior Jordan Penn sporting a 3-0 record facing 57 shots and bagging 12 saves in five games.
Series History vs. Westminster
It had been nearly two years, 699 day to be exact, since rivals Colorado Mesa and Westminster last met, and even longer since the Mavericks stole a win from the Griffins in Salt Lake City.
The teams met three times in 2019, each time the Griffins coming out on top.
When the team's met back on Apr. 2 in Salt Lake City, CMU left no doubt taking home a 16-6 victory and their first win over WC since 2018.
Carson Schwark made it three straight games scoring multiple goals, leading the team with a hat trick. Four other players chipped in two goals, as the CMU offense came out firing, scoring 7 of their goals in the first frame.
As a team, Colorado Mesa took 49 shots, picked up 55 ground balls, won 19 face-offs and was 25-of-28 in clears.
In the overall series that dates back to 2011, the Mavericks hold a 10-4 advantage.
