GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. – A midweek matchup will cap off a five-game road swing for the Colorado Mesa men's soccer team. On Wednesday, the team will take to the turf of Dumke Field for a clash with Westminster. The team will then return to the friendly confines of Maverick Field, Friday and play host to Fort Lewis to round out their non-conference portion of the season.

Both games are scheduled to kickoff at 7 p.m.

Weekend Recap
Games three and four of the Mavericks five-game road series took the team to Wichita Falls, Texas for the MSU Classic. Over two days, Stang Park featured six different teams, four of which were nationally ranked, Colorado Mesa being one of them.

After a successful weekend prior, the momentum remained in favor of CMU going into Thursday's bout with No. 19 Simon Fraser. Five goals by four different players, led to the Mavs third shutout of the season.

Ethan Anderson attained his first and second goals of the young season, converting on both free kick opportunities just outside the 18-yard box. Fernando Morales netted his first goal of the season, working through the traffic in front of the net to put the team up by three in the first half.

Simon Fraser managed to hold off the Mavs for a majority of the second half, but with under 20-minutes left to play the offensive unit tacked on two more goals.

John Roberts who's the leading helper, got behind the ball and netted his first goal of the season. Leo Mireles capped off the day's scoring, knocking a header in off a pass from previous scorer, Roberts.

Connor Durant snagged his third shutout, while keeping a clean slate between the posts.

Game two had a different outcome, as then No. 25 Fort Hays State used a 2-1 decision to hand the Mavs their first loss.

All three goals were scored in the first half, within the first 15-minutes of play.

Alec Fronapfel put back the equalizer in the 14^th-minute, his third tally of the season. Mireles got his first helper tally on the goal.
The Tigers would score in that same minute in what would become the eventual deciding goal.

Rhett Cook was the net minder of the contest, going all 90-minutes and picking up a save. The Mavs defensive unit did limit their opposition to just three shots on goal, totaling just seven shots on target throughout the weekend.

Fine Nine
The list of offensive threats sits at nine for the Mavs, three players with multiple goals on the season thus far. At the forefront is forward Alec Fronapfel (3) and Chris Boyd (3), followed by Ethan Anderson after his two-goal performance against Simon Fraser.

There are nearly just as many players have assists, leading the way is John Roberts with three. Boyd has a pair to his name, and leads the team with eight points.

RMAC Defensive Player of the Week
Ethan Anderson contributed on both ends of the pitch over the weekend, his efforts earning him RMAC Defensive Player of the Week. The Highlands Ranch native commanded the back line keeping both opponents to just seven shots on goal combined.

Against Simon Fraser he moved up into scoring position, burying both free kick opportunities in each of the top-corners, giving way to an early 2-0 lead, and the eventual 5-0 shutout.

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.

Despite the recent loss, the Mavs remained in the USC Top-25, this week returning back to No.16 with a 5-1 record. Colorado School of Mines and Regis are amongst other teams receiving votes.

CMU in one of three teams from the South-Central Region within the ranks, West Texas A&M being the highest at No. 5 and in the top spot of the regional standings.

Midwestern State shoots up to takeover the No. 10 spot, and is second in the region.

Looking Ahead
Westminster Griffins (2-4-0)
Westminster has followed the Mavs the past two weekends, competing against some of the same opponents. After opening the season with a trio of losses, they snapped the skid with a 3-0 triumph over MSU Billings.

Last weekend at the MSU Classic, they finished 1-1 with a loss to host MSU Texas, before stealing a 2-0 win over Texas A&M International to end the weekend on a high note.

Five players each have a tally for the Griffins, Carlos Becerra-Gomez and Luke Merrill each contributing a goal and an assist. Becerra-Gomez accounts for 12 shots, while Merrill has taken eight of his own as the team has outshot opponents by a 78-64 margin.

Picked to finish sixth in the RMAC Preseason Poll, nine of the 11 starters return from a season ago. In the abbreviated spring season, they finished with a 3-2-1 record.

It will be the 16^th meeting between the two teams, CMU leading the overall series by a 11-2-2 record. Early on the Mavs dominated, however the last six meetings have been back and forth affairs. Two meetings have gone into double-overtime, including the most recent meeting on April 11, 2020. That game was decided by a free kick dagger off the foot of Ramses Atahualpa. When the teams met early in the spring it ended in a 1-1 draw.

Fort Lewis Skyhawks (2-2-1)
Under the Friday night lights, the Skyhawks enter Maverick Field coming off a 2-0 victory over Adams State. That win broke a two-game skid for the Skyhawks.

Freshman Tomas Duenes is at the forefront of the scoring, already with two goals under his belt. Fellow freshman Gabriel Legendre adds a goal and two assists to the offensive mix. Five other Skyhawks have been credited goals, four out of the seven total scorers being listed as newcomers.

Senior goalkeeper Peter Byrne returns to defend the net, already making 15 stops with a season high six against a very dominant Colorado School of Mines squad.

Picked 4^th in the preseason poll, they did receive a first-place vote. In the condensed spring season, they finished 5-3-1, qualifying for the conference tournament and making it to the semifinals.