GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. – With two top defenders back in the team, Colorado Mesa men's soccer will have their final two opportunities to get points away from home coming off a key win in Grand Junction last weekend.

The Mavericks' mostly health-based defensive struggles continued last Friday against Westminster, when a slim CMU lead fell apart late in a 3-1 loss that saw the Griffins score twice in the final six minutes. On Sunday, however, former RMAC Defensive Player of the Year Ethan Anderson and standout right back Raymond Jackson returned from injury and immediately provided a boost, as the defense kept a clean sheet and Jackson drew a penalty kick in a 2-0 victory over MSU Denver.

Currently tied for the sixth and final RMAC Tournament qualifying spot at 2-3-1, a massive week lies ahead for the Mavs, who face two teams below them in the standings in South Dakota Mines and Regis. The Mavericks will battle 0-6 South Dakota Mines on Friday at 2 p.m. before heading over to 1-3-2 Regis on Sunday at 1:30 p.m.,

Looking Back
The Mavericks took a brief lead last Friday against Westminster but allowed goals in the 67^th, 84^th and 89^th minutes to complete a 3-1 loss, allowing the Griffins to avenge CMU's 4-2 nonconference win at Community Hospital Unity Field earlier this season. Daisuke Takanaka scored his fourth goal of the season to put the Mavs ahead in the 54^th minute.

RECAPS: Westminster | MSU Denver

Against MSU Denver, the Mavs reinstated Anderson and Jackson and made a goalkeeper switch, giving redshirt freshman Diego Chavez his second start of the season. A headed goal from Jannick Lange gave the Mavs the lead before a counterattack led to a penalty kick that Fernando Morales converted to seal the 2-0 victory.

Go Diego Go
Redshirt freshman Diego Chavez has proven to be a solid alternate option in goal for the Mavericks, and he provided a big spark when the team needed it against MSU Denver.  
 
Against the Roadrunners, who entered the game with a strong 8-3-2 record, Chavez made three saves en route to his second shutout of the season. In four appearances and two starts totaling 210 minutes, Chavez has yet to concede a goal while making eight saves.

Despite only appearing in those four matches, Chavez has two of CMU's three total shutouts this season. Chavez, a Skyline High School product from Longmont, Colo., was an All-State Second Team goalkeeper in 2020.

Playmaker
Not to be confused with Diego Chavez, sophomore midfielder Diogo Silva has taken over the team assist lead with four after notching one in two of CMU's past three matches. Against MSU Denver, Silva did his damage off a corner kick, swinging in a cross that Jannick Lange headed in to put the Mavericks in front.

Silva has started eight of the Mavs' 13 matches this year. Against MSU Denver, Silva played 62 minutes, one minute off his season high. Behind Silva, Daisuke Takanaka has three assists while Manuel Ponce Casas, Joey Joiner, Leo Mireles and Alvaro Parra each have two.

Silva comes to the Mavericks from Brazil and Gateway Legacy Christian Academy, a prep school in Florissant, Mo. that specializes in training international athletes. Fellow Brazilians and Mavericks Joao Pedro Moraes and Matheus Lazzuri also attended Gateway Legacy.  

More and More-ales
Fernando Morales, Colorado Mesa's second-leading scorer last season, is on pace to repeat that output, ranking second on the team in goals (five) and points (11, tied with Daisuke Takanaka).
 
Morales has been lethal from the penalty spot, converting all three of his PK chances including CMU's second goal against MSU Denver on Sunday. Morales scored three times in a four-game span during non-conference season and now has two goals in the past three matches after scoring against Adams State and MSU Denver.

Morales has an opportunity to add to his total, as he scored three goals in three matches last season against CMU's upcoming two opponents.

Conference Leaderboards
Colorado Mesa ranks third in the RMAC in both goals (34) and assists (24). The Mavericks goalkeepers rank sixth in the RMAC with a 1.43 goals-against average. The Mavs rank sixth in shots (175) and shots on goal (85).

The Mavericks have stayed out of trouble, collecting 15 yellow cards, which is the fewest in the RMAC and tied for the sixth-fewest in Division II.

About South Dakota Mines
The Hardrockers of South Dakota Mines are 1-11-2 this season. They are currently on a six-game losing streak that coincides with their 0-6 record in RMAC play. South Dakota Mines tied St. Cloud State and defeated Dakota Wesleyan within their first three matches of the year, but since then they have lost 10 of 11 matches with the only non-defeat coming in a 1-1 tie against winless Adams State.

Junior Hayden Jamarillo has scored once and recently set a single-season program record with five assists. Senior midfielder Alexander Crowson has been hot lately, with a goal and an assist over the Hardrockers' past three games. Senior midfielder Brady Cork has one of the more intriguing stat lines in college soccer, scoring three goals on only three total shots despite playing in all 14 games.

Goalkeeper David Freitas has been kept busy this season, to put it mildly. Freitas leads the RMAC with 70 saves, 16 more than any other RMAC keeper, but has also let in 37 goals for a 2.90 goals-against average.

Ryan Thompson has been the head coach at South Dakota Mines since 2019 after serving as an assistant coach for one season prior to that. Thompson replaced Andrew Conniff, who left for a brief one-season tenure as the head men's soccer coach at Colorado Mesa. Thompson is 2-26-1 in his RMAC coaching career.

About Regis
Regis is currently 4-8-2 with a 1-3-2 mark in the RMAC. The Rangers have lost three and drawn one out of their past four matches, albeit against top competition in No. 17 UCCS, No. 3 CSU Pueblo and Colorado School of Mines. Their lone win was a 7-0 rout over South Dakota Mines, CMU's opponent on Friday.

Sophomore forward Rayhan Carlson-Du Toit leads the team and ranks fourth in the RMAC with eight goals and also has two assists. Forward Vilhjalmur Kaldal ranks second in the RMAC with 43 shots and fifth with 17 shots on goal, but so far his chances have only led to one goal and one assist.

Graduate student Kristian Hooker has four goals and scored in four consecutive matches from September 16-29. Forwards Elias Taubo and Kevin Cela have three assists apiece to lead the team.

Much of the setbacks for Regis have come on the defensive side of the pitch, where they have allowed the third-most goals in the conference behind the winless duo of South Dakota Mines and Adams State. Goalkeeper Luca Falagrady has allowed 24 goals while making 43 saves.

Taylor Diem, a former All-American and RMAC Defensive Player of the Year with Regis, is in his second season as the Rangers' head coach after spending three seasons as an assistant coach. Regis went 10-8-1 in his debut season. Before returning to his alma mater, Diem was also an assistant coach at Johnson & Wales.

Series Histories
Colorado Mesa is unbeaten vs. South Dakota Mines, accumulating a 10-0-1 record against the Hardrockers. The only tie was a scoreless draw in 2016, but since then, the Mavericks have won the past six meetings including the past three by identical 4-0 scores.

Ethan Anderson, Joey Joiner, Daisuke Takanaka and Fernando Morales scored for the Mavs in a spring 2021 win while Alec Fronapfel has a goal against the Hardrockers from back in 2019.

Colorado Mesa holds a 14-10-3 advantage in the all-time series with Regis, but the Mavericks have done some heavy lifting to turn the tide in their favor in recent years. The Mavs have won the past four matches and reeled off a streak of seven wins in a row from November 2013 to September 2017 to reverse a Regis period of dominance from 2008-2013.

The Mavericks beat Regis twice last season. Colton Shafer, Fernando Morales and Ethan Anderson scored for CMU in a 3-0 win over the Rangers. The opening two goals were scored in the first 20 minutes before Anderson put icing on the cake with a free kick goal in the 84^th minute. Morales and Alec Fronapfel scored in an earlier 2-0 non-conference win, while Fronapfel was also among three goal scorers in a spring 2021 contest that ended 3-1 in the Mavs' favor.

In the Polls
Two RMAC teams are currently ranked, including a bona fide national contender in No. 3 CSU Pueblo. UCCS also joined the rankings this week after receiving votes for a number of weeks, debuting at No. 17.

In the South Central regional poll, the Mavericks are ranked eighth out of ten listed teams. They rank fourth among RMAC schools, trailing the nationally-ranked duo plus Colorado School of Mines but ahead of No. 10 Westminster.

Coach's Corner
Mavericks head coach Jon Fridal is in his third season in charge at CMU, boasting a .783 winning percentage from the first two seasons.

In his first year, played in spring 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Mavs went 6-1-1, including 5-0-1 in conference play, as Fridal took home RMAC Coach of the Year honors, becoming the second coach in the history of the program to do so.

In his first full campaign in the fall of 2021, Fridal led the Mavericks to a 16-4-2 record, a second place RMAC regular-season finish, an RMAC Tournament title and a win in the NCAA Tournament.

Along with assistant coach Brandon Bautista, Fridal was honored as the United Soccer Coaches South Central Regional Staff of the Year in 2021.