TAMPA, Fla.— The 20^th-ranked Colorado Mesa University Maverick men's lacrosse team put up a valiant fight before the second-ranked and possibly new No. 1 University of Tampa Spartans prevailed by a 15-12 margin on Saturday afternoon here at the Naimoli Family Athletic and Intramural Complex.
 
The Mavs had a pair of early 1-goal leads and tied the game at 8 with 9:37 left in the third quarter before the Spartans scored three times over 2:11 in the latter stages of the quarter to take an 11-8 lead.
 
The Mavericks then scored the opening two goals of fourth to pull back within one at 12-11 before Luke McAnaney scored two goals just 20 seconds apart to help ice UT's victory.
 
McAnaney and Colin White finished with five goals each while Ethan Paduch scored two off the bench to lead the now 7-0 Spartans, who were ranked second in this week's USILA/Dynamic NCAA Division II Coaches' Poll.  With the No. 1 team LeMoyne losing earlier in the week, the Spartans could very well find themselves in the top spot in the next poll.
 
Meanwhile, the Mavericks slipped to 5-2 as they saw their 4-game winning streak come to a halt.
 
AJ Switzer led the Mavs with three goals while James Steinke, Alex Blatt and Jed Brummett all had two.  Steinke also finished with three assists and a team-high five total points.
 
Dylan Checketts was CMU's only face-off man and won 17 of the 32.  He also finished with a game -high 11 ground balls.
 
Freshman goalkeeper Reece Sullivan made 12 saves for CMU.
 
Despite falling, the Mavericks out-shot the Spartans 42-39 as Switzer took nine shots, six of which were on frame.  He also caused a pair of Spartan turnovers.
 
The Mavericks led 1-0 on a Blatt marker just 1:01 in and tied the game at three with a man-up Trent Pernell goal with 18 seconds left in the quarter.
 
Jed Brummett then scored his first goal, to give the Mavs a 4-3 lead early in the second quarter.
 
However, the Spartans answered back with two man-up goals and 3-0 run to take a 6-4 advantage.
 
Brummett and Carson Schawark then scored on both sides of the half-time break to the game at 6 before the Spartans answered back once again to go up 8-6 on a White goal at the 11:40 mark of the third quarter.
 
Steinke and Switzer then scored to level the game at 8 before the Spartans scored three goals between 4:12 and 2:01 left in the third to take the lead for good.
 
Tampa was 3-for-6 on extra-man opportunities while the Mavs were 1-for-3.
 
Blake Ulmer, who lead Division II goalkeepers in saves and save percentage, made 15 saves for the victors.
 
The Mavericks will continue their 4-game swing through Florida on Wednesday when they head to Melbourne to face No. 13 Florida Tech.