GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. – After clinching their fourth Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference regular season title last Friday, the Colorado Mesa (8-1, 5-0 RMAC) men's lacrosse team earned the right to host the conference tournament.

The Mavericks will play in the first of two semifinals on Friday at 3 p.m. as the No. 1 seed, taking on No. 4 seeded Adams State.

The two teams to advance to the championship will play on Saturday at 2 p.m.

TAKING BACK THE TITLE
The last time Colorado Mesa secured the regular season championship was back in 2018. That same season the team brought home back-to-back tournament championships and a berth in the NCAA Tournament for the first time in program history.

With the exception of the 2020 season, which did not feature a conference tournament due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Mavericks have won four of the last five regular season titles since the RMAC added men's lacrosse in 2016. Westminster were the title holders in 2019.

HOT STREAK
Since dropping their season opener by a close 10-11 decision in overtime to Mount Olive, the Mavericks have since gone on to win eight straight games, including a 5-0 run in conference action. In each of the five conference games, opponents have been kept to single digits.

The team has put up double-figure scoring in eight of the nine outings, including two 23-goal games. Along with the double-digit scoring, the Mavs have also dished out 10 or more assists in five games this season, posting a high of 17 against Shorter and in the second meeting with Adams State.

SWEEP OF THE WEEK
For the second consecutive week, Colorado Mesa took home both RMAC Offensive and Defensive Player of the Week honors. This time around, Sergio Pelayo took home the offensive nod and Nolan Hoffman garnered defensive honors.

Pelayo put together a season high seven points, netting two goals and matching a school record with five assists. Three of his assists were connections with Jed Brummett who tallied five goals in the win over Westminster. With the two goals, the Snohomish, Washington native has 10 on the season and the five assists put him at 13, tied for the most on the team.

Hoffman was named Defensive Player of the Week, bagging eight saves to help secure the 2021 RMAC Regular Season title, the program's fourth overall. He also picked up a game high six ground balls and caused two turnovers.

OFFENSIVE MINDSET
Hunter Holcomb leads the Maverick attack with 16 goals, in addition to 10 assists, and is in good company with six other players in double-figure goals this season. Jed Brummett follows up with 15, posting his second five goal game last weekend in the win over Westminster.

Four players sport double-doubles with goals and assists, three players tied for the most on the team. James Steinke, AJ Switzer and Sergio Pelayo each have a team high 13-assists, with 11, 11 and 10 goals respectively.

NATIONAL STAT RANKINGS
With an .871 percentage the Mavericks lead the nation in man-down defense, allowing just four extra-man goals in 31 opportunities by opponents. Allowing less than seven goals per game, the Mavericks hold the No. 2 spot in scoring defense.

On the offensive side of the ball, CMU ranks 8^th in scoring offense, accumulating 141 goals over the span of nine games to average 15.67 goals per game. In the same respect, the Mavs are fifth outscoring opponents by a 9.22 margin. Between multiple players sharing the wealth, the team has tallied 100 assists, to average just over 11 per game, third most in Division II.

Between a half dozen players, the Mavericks are 157-of-228 in faceoffs for the fourth best winning percentage at .689.

ABOUT THE GRIZZLIES
Friday's semifinal matchup with Adams State will mark the third time the team's have met this season. Colorado Mesa won both games during the conference schedule by 12-6 and 23-3 decisions.

The Grizzlies are 0-8 on the season, and finished the conference portion of the season 0-6. In their last outing, they put together goals in each of the four periods of play against CSU Pueblo, but fell just shy 6-8. Brett Carberry and Kyle Butler netted two goals in the loss.

Butler leads the team with 11-goals on the season, in addition to two assists for 13-points. Brendan Williams has spent the most time in goal, starting in all seven games he has played. Williams, is just three shy of 100 saves for the season, facing 283 shots.

Series History vs. Adams State
Dating back to 2011, the team's have met a total of 23 times all of which have gone in favor of the Mavericks. The Grizzlies have been limited to single digit scoring in all but one game, scoring 13 against CMU back in 2015.