GRAND JUNCTION, Colo.— Coming off an important win over rival Westminster College in their Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference and home-opener, the Colorado Mesa University Maverick men's lacrosse teams will be on the road this weekend to continue RMAC play at Adams State University.
 
The Mavericks, off to a 3-1 overall and 1-0 RMAC start, will play the Grizzlies in Alamosa at 1 p.m. on Saturday.  ASU will be playing their first official game of the 2022 season.
 
A live stream of the game (natural sound only) can be found on the RMAC Network and live statistics will be available through the Grizzlies' website.  Direct links to both can be found above.
 
Last Time Out
 
As mentioned above, the Mavericks are coming off a key win over Westminster on Sunday.  The Mavericks used a 3-0 key run to begin the second half, breaking what had been a 7-7 half-time lead and went on to claim the 16-13 win over the Griffins, who had been the RMAC's preseason favorites after upsetting the Mavs in the 2021 RMAC Tournament Championship game.
 
The Mavs had trailed 6-4 with five minutes to go in the second quarter but used an 8-2 spurt overlapping halftime to build a 4-goal (12-8) lead en-route to the victory.
 
AJ Switzer scored three goals in that extended stretch, including the go-ahead-for-good goal just 84 seconds into the third quarter and finished with a team-high four goals overall.
 
James Steinke had a career-high seven points, recording two goals and five assists, while Sergio Pelayo and Hunter Holcomb both had four offensive points as well.  Pelayo had two goals and two assists while Holcomb had a goal while dishing out three helpers.
 
Freshman net-minder Reece Sullivan went the distance and made eight saves to earn the win, his third of the young season.
 
RMAC Honors
 
The Mavericks swept the RMAC Player of the Week accolades, handed out by the conference for the first time this season on Wednesday.  James Steinke was named as the RMAC's Offensive Player of the Week while Dylan Checketts was tabbed as the Defensive Player of the Week.
 
The awards were based on all four of the Mavs' games to date.
 
Checketts, the 2021 RMAC Freshman of the Year, won 22 of his 29 face-offs against Westminster while scooping up a season-high 14 ground balls as the Mavericks dominated the possession statistics against the Griffins.    Through Wednesday's games around the country, Checketts ranks third in the country for face-off winning percentage and 11th for ground balls per game (9.00).  He leads the RMAC in both of those categories.
 
Steinke has scored five goals and has ten points (five assists) thus far in 2021.  He has scored at least once in each of the Mavericks' games this season and has claimed 13 ground balls, equal to the most of anyone in the RMAC besides the Mavs' top two face-off men (Checketts and Jake Brummett).  Steinke had a career-high seven of those GB's in Sunday's win over Westminster.
 
Top-10 Goal Scorer
 
Carson Schwark scored two goals in Sunday's win over Westminster and has now scored 55 in his Maverick career, equal to ninth most in program history.  He had become just the 11^th Maverick to ever surpass the 50 career goal mark when he scored two in the season-opener against Alabama-Huntsville and has now joined Daniel Caddoo (2012-16) and Michael Dasch, Jr. (2016-19) on 55 and inside the top 10.
 
Schwark, a fifth-year Mavericks senior out of Inver Grove Heights, Minnesota has put up double-figure tallies in each of the past three seasons, including the last two, which have been significantly shortened by the COVID-19 pandemic.  He scored a career-high 17 goals in just nine games played last season earning Second Team All-RMAC honors as the team's third leading scorer.  He also ranked sixth in the RMAC for goals last season.
 
He has scored six goals in four games this season, third most on the team and in the conference.
 
With two more goals, he can tie Joe Wulforst IV (57; 2017-20) for eighth on the goal-scoring charts.  Schwark is six goals away from Kade Robinson (61; 2011-14) for seventh on the Mavs' all-time goal scoring charts.
 
Top 10 Ranks
 
As a team, the Mavericks rank amongst the top 10 in the NCAA Division II statistics in eight different categories through Wednesday's games.  As one of 69 teams to have played this season, The Mavs rank second as a team in face-off winning percentage having won 76.0 percent (92-121) of their draws. 
 
The Mavericks also sit fifth in the country for ground balls per game (44.00) and are eighth with 176 total grounds balls.  They also rank eighth for both points (104) and points per game (26.00) as well as in scoring offense (16.25 goals per game).  The Mavs rank ninth for total assists (39) and tenth for assists per game (10).
 
Stretching the Scoring Streaks
 
Hunter Holcomb and James Steinke both scored against Westminster on Sunday and have extended their respective goal scoring streaks.  They have both scored in all four of the Mavericks' games this season. 
 
Holcomb, a true sophomore out of Carver, Minnesota, has now scored in 12 straight games dating back to the 2021 season, when he earned RMAC Attacker of the Year honors.   He has scored 23 career goals in just 15 games, finding the back of the net at least once in all but one of the Mavs' games since joining the program.  He has had at least one offensive point in all 15.
 
Meanwhile, Steinke, the 2021 RMAC Midfielder of the Year, has scored in the last five and seven of the Mavs' eight seven games dating back to last season.  The redshirt sophomore  out of Castle Rock, Colorado has scored 22 goals in 21 games over the past three seasons.
 
Both have scored five goals this season.
 
Just outside
 
The Mavericks are residing just outside of the national rankings, checking in with 15 votes as the leading team in the "also receiving votes" category of this week's USILA/Dynamic Division II Coaches' Poll, released on Monday.  Florida Tech, a team the Mavs will play later this month, is in the No. 20 spot of the poll with 20 points. 
 
Le Moyne continues to lead the poll and is receiving all 24 first place votes and the maximum 480 points.  Tampa, a team the Mavs will also play this month, is ranked second with 452 points while Indianapolis switched spots with Wingate to claim third in this week's poll.  Mercy continues to sit fifth.
 
The Mavs' only loss this season has come to Rollins, up two spots to 14^th in this week's poll.  The Tars were also receiving votes when the Mavs played them in a neutral-site encounter in Jacksonville, Florida on Feb. 12.
 
Sunday Funday
 
As is often the case for teams in the western portion of the country, the Mavericks will once again have a limited home schedule playing just four of their 16 regular season games at home on the Community Hospital Unity Hospital Field.  All four of those are to be played on Sundays and will feature noon start times, including last weekend's tilt with the Griffins.
 
The Mavs' other three home games will all be in April and against three in-state rivals.  The Mavs will host Division III Colorado College in an inter-divisional contest on Apr. 3.  The Mavs then host CSU Pueblo on Apr. 10 before taking on Adams State on Apr. 24.
 
If the Mavs win the RMAC regular season title, they would host the RMAC Tournament on Friday, May 6 and Saturday, May 7.
 
A look back
 
The Mavericks went 9-2 in 2021, winning nine straight games after dropping their season-opener in overtime at Mount Olive.  They played each of their first seven on the road and were not home until Apr. 25 and saw two of their four regular season home games thwarted by COVID issues within the opposing programs.
 
Despite the pandemic challenges, the Mavericks won all five of the RMAC contests they played to win the conference title for the fourth time in five completed seasons.  They then won their RMAC Tournament semifinal over Adams State, a team they beat three times, but were downed by RMAC rival Westminster in the RMAC Tournament Championship game, ending any potential hope for an NCAA Tournament bid.
 
On an individual basis, the Mavericks had 17 players earn All-RMAC honors, including RMAC Freshman of the Year Dylan Checketts, Attacker of the Year Hunter Holcomb and Midfielder of the Year James Steinke.  Vince Smith was named as the RMAC Coach of the Year.
 
Jed Brummett, Sergio Pelayo, Tanner Stopkoski, Brian Buckner, Cole Emmanuel, Jake Eickelman and Drew Eickelman joined Holcomb and Steinke on the First Team All-RMAC unit.    All but Buckner and Emmanuel, now at Division I Marquette, return to the Maverick roster in 2022.
 
On a statistical basis, the Mavericks ranked amongst the nation's top 10 in 11 different statistical categories and won the national statistical title in ground balls per game, racking up 44.36 per game.
 
The Mavs also ranked second in the country for assists per game (11.27) and clearing percentage (.901) and led the RMAC in all but three of the NCAA tracked statistical categories.
 
Long time success
 
The Mavericks' 2021 success was certainly not a "one-hit wonder".  The Mavericks went a perfect 7-0 in 2020 when that season was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.  Including, this year's start, CMU has now won 19 of their last 22 games and have posted a winning record in each of the last ten seasons after going 6-8 in their inaugural 2011 season.
 
As a program, the Mavs are 115-44 all-time, good for a .723 winning percentage that is fifth best amongst active Division II programs.
 
Home Sweet Home
 
After claiming Sunday's win, the Mavericks have now posted a 49-8 all-time record at home since beginning their program in 2011, good for an .860 home field winning percentage.  The Mavericks had a 20-game home field winning streak from 2016-18 and have now won 29 of their last 32 games at Community Hospital Unity Field.
 
Best in the West
 
The Mavericks have proven to be the best Division II program in the western half of the United States, winning four Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference titles in the last five opportunities after claiming two Western Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association crowns in the program's earliest years. 
 
The Mavericks are an impressive 36-4 (.900) in RMAC play since the conference began sponsoring the sport in 2016.
 
CMU is the only RMAC team to have ever qualified for the NCAA Division II Tournament doing so in 2018 after posting a school-record 17 wins (17-3) while going a perfect 8-0 in conference play that year.
 
It starts at the top
 
Maverick Head Coach Vince Smith, in his eighth season at the helm of the program, has a 84-23 career record.  His .785 career winning percentage ranks him seventh amongst active NCAA coaches (all three divisions) with a minimum of five years as ahead coach at the NCAA level.
 
Only Le Moyne's Dan Sheehan (334-54, .861) and Mercyhurst's Chris Ryan (242-62, .796)  have higher percentages than Smith in Division II.  Those two coaches went head-to-head on Saturday with Sheehan's top-ranked Dolphins squeaking out a 10-9 win over Ryan's Lakers, ranked seventh nationally at the time.  They are now ranked eighth.
 
Smith has been named as the RMAC Coach of the Year on two occasions, including in 2021 (2016), and was named as the WILA Coach of the Year in that organization's final year (2015).
 
His players have earned a combined 38 First Team All-RMAC honors since 2016 and have received a conference-high 15 "Of the Year" major awards since then.
 
Smith is 16-0 in his coaching career against Adams State and is 6-0 against his Grizzly counterpart Jerome Austin.
 
About the Grizzlies
 
Adams State will be playing its first official game of the season on Saturday although the Grizzlies' schedule showed a Feb. 5 scrimmage at Air Force.
 
They went 0-9 overall and 0-6 last year and were 0-4 in 2020, when that season was canceled.
 
The Grizzlies have dropped their last 19 straight games and have not won a game since Mar. 29, 2019, when they defeated Notre Dame de Namur for their first of three wins that season.
 
The Grizzlies were picked third out of four RMAC teams in this year's preseason coaches' poll and had three All-RMAC selections in 2021, including RMAC Goalkeeper of the Year and First Team All-RMAC selection Brendan Williams, who returns as a graduate student this year.
 
Now seniors Kyle Butler and Brennan Grass are also back in 2022 after earning Second Team All-RMAC honors at the attack and defender positions last year.
 
Williams made a league-high 118 saves and recorded a .513 save percentage last season after starting all nine games for fourth-year coach and Director of Lacrosse Jerome Austin.   Williams was ranked 11^th nationally for saves per game (13.25).
 
Butler scored 26 percent (13) of the Grizzlies' 50 total goals last year and lead the team in points with 17.  He also had 13 ground balls last season.
 
Dawson Balabanoff (7G, 6A) and Jacob Austin (8G, 3A), the head coach's son, also return after double-digit offensive point seasons last year.
 
The Grizzlies' main face-off man in now sophomore Justin Peterson also returns after winning 40 draws last year.
 
Series History
 
The Mavericks have won all 24 games against the Grizzlies since both teams started their program in 2011.  The 24 wins are the most the Mavs have recorded against any single opponent by a significant margin (14 vs. CSU Pueblo).
 
The Mavs have scored 20 or more goals in three of the four meetings over the last two seasons, including in a 22-5 victory over the Grizzlies in last year's RMAC Tournament semifinals.
 
The Mavs are 9-0 all-time against the Grizzlies in Alamosa, winning last year's game, played on Apr. 9, by a 12-6 margin.
 
Up Next
 
Saturday's game will be the first of five that the Mavericks will play on the road this month.  The Mavs will take their second trip of the season to Florida later this month playing four games in the Sunshine State over ten days from Mar. 16-25.  The first of those will come on Wednesday, Mar. 16 at Palm Beach Atlantic.