MELBOURNE, Fla.— Hat-tricks off the bench from James Steinke, Alex Blatt and Braden Lowe and a late rally were not quite enough for the Colorado Mesa University men's lacrosse team, which dropped a 16-15 decision to Florida Tech in a battle of nationally-ranked teams on Wednesday afternoon here at Panther Field.
 
The Mavericks, ranked 20^th nationally, trailed 16-12 after giving up five of the first six goals of the final quarter but then scored the next three goals to pull within one (16-15) of the 14^th-ranked Panthers with 3:46 left.  However, they could not get a goal on their final two shots and took a late penalty, just one of three the Mavs were flagged for, as the Panthers were able to run out the clock.
 
Both teams now have 5-3 overall records.
 
Steinke, the reigning Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Player of the Week, and Trent Pernell both finished with 5-point games. Steinke had three goals and two assists while Pernell had four assists and a goal.
 
Blatt and Lowe also had three goals while AJ Switzer scored two goals and added an assist for the Mavs.  Dylan Checketts, JJ Brummett and Sergio Pelayo also scored in the losing effort.
 
Checketts was a giant in the face-off game, winning 26 of his 34 draws while scooping up 14 ground balls to match a season-high.
 
Drew Eickelman, the RMAC Defensive Player of the Week, also had nine ground balls while Carson Schwark tallied seven helping the Mavericks to a massive 65-35 advantage in the loose ball category.  Hunter Holcolmb also added six.

Hayden Scherr also had a monster defensive effort causing five turnovers.
 
Reece Sullivan added 12 saves in net for the second straight game.
 
Florida Tech also relied heavily on their goalkeeper John Hulsman, who made 18 saves, including 11 in the first half alone.  His play helped mitigate the Mavs' 52-35 advantage in shots.
 
Zach Rozgonyi had four goals to lead the Panthers' offensively.
 
The game was tight throughout as neither team had more than a 2-goal lead through the first three quarters.  The contest was tied eight times in that span as Rozgonyi scored an equalizer with one second left in the third quarter to knot the game at 11.
 
The Panthers then built on that momentum early in the fourth scoring twice in the opening 72 seconds to take a 13-11 lead.
 
Pernell then pulled the Mavs within 13-12 with a goal at the 11:29 mark of the fourth quarter before the Panthers went on to score three more times in less than two minutes building their 16-12 advantage with 7:52 left.
 
A minute later, the Mavs roared back as AJ Switzer scored off a Steinke assist with 6:50 to go.  Braden Lowe then scored just eight seconds later off a Hunter Holcomb assist to make the scored, 16-14 with 6:42 left.
 
Checketts then won the ensuing face-off as the Mavericks missed on two shots before Scherr caused a turnover setting up the Mavs for Brummett's goal with 3:46 to go, pulling CMU within one.
 
The Panthers then won of their nine face-offs to halt the rally before Sullivan kept the Mavs close with two key saves.
 
The Mavs were then able to clear the defensive zone with just more than two minutes to go but saw  Brummett shot blocked with 1:24 to go.  The then took another one with 1:11 that Hulsman saved.
 
The Panthers then cleared the ball and capitalized on the late pushing penalty to hold on to the win.
 
The Mavs will wrap up their 4-game swing through Florida playing at winless Flagler College (0-9) at 11 a.m. EDT (9 a.m. Mountain) in St. Augustine.