GRAND JUNCTION, Colo.— Riding a season-best 5-game winning streak, the Colorado Mesa University men's lacrosse team will try to clinch at least a share of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference's regular season title when they play two conference contests in 48 hours this weekend.
 
The Mavericks (10-3, 3-0 RMAC) will travel to Pueblo and CSU Pueblo's Art & Lorraine Gonzales Stadium for a 3:30 p.m. Friday afternoon clash with the ThunderWolves (2-6, 1-1 RMAC).
 
CMU will then return home to Community Hospitality Unity Field to face Adams State University, currently 1-5 overall and 0-3 in RMAC play, in the Mavs' Senior Day contest against the Grizzlies on Sunday at noon.
 
Both games will be streamed live on the RMAC Network and live statistics can be found at the links above.
 
Tickets for Sunday's contest can also purchased online at www.cmumavericks.com/tickets.
 
Title Scenarios
 
Although the Mavericks have only played half of their six scheduled RMAC games to date, they could clinch a share of the RMAC title as soon as Friday and control their own destiny to clinch at least a share this weekend.
 
If the Mavs are able to win both of their games this week, they would clinch at least a share of the RMAC title, regardless of any other results.  CMU could also clinch a share of the title with a Friday win over CSU Pueblo combined with a Westminster loss at Adams State that day.
 
Westminster is currently in second place in the conference standings with a 2-1 league mark while CSU Pueblo is 1-2.  Adams State is 0-3.
 
The Mavericks also control their own destiny for an out-right title but would need two wins and a Westminster loss at either Adams State or CSU Pueblo on Friday or Sunday to clinch that this weekend.
 
The Mavericks will close out the regular season next Saturday (Apr. 30) at Westminster.
 
Last Times Out
 
The Mavericks returned home from a trip to the Midwest with a pair of defensive wins over two different Hawk teams.  The Mavericks defeated the Quincy University Hawks, 8-4, on Thursday in Quincy, Illinois before moving on to Kansas City, Missouri to claim a 10-5 road win over the Rockhurst University Hawks on Saturday.
 
Against, Quincy, Carson Schwark recorded his 11^th career hat-trick and his second of the season while the Mavs grinded out a defensive 8-4 victory despite an impressive 28-save effort from Hawk goalkeeper Ryan Riggs.
 
The Mavs trailed 4-1, 20 minutes into the contest but scored the final seven unanswered goals in the win, figuring out Riggs while holding the hosts without a goal for the final 40 minutes.
 
Schwark finished the game with 14 shots as the Mavs took 53 against Riggs and the Hawk defense. 

The Maverick defense was solid and held the Hawks to just 21 total shots as Nolan Hoffman made saves on six of the ten that were on frame to pick up the complete game victory.  He is now 2-0.
 
Against Rockhurst, the Mavericks started off strong taking a 4-0 lead in just over nine minutes of action en-route to the 10-5 victory.  The Mavs and Dylan Checketts won all 17 face-offs in the game as Trent Pernell and Jed Brummett both recorded hat-tricks.  James Steinke also had a 3-point game with a goal and two assists while Checketts scooped up a game-high eight ground balls.

Defensively,  Trey Corkin III had three caused turnovers while Drew Eickelman and Tanner Stopkoski had two each for the Mavs, who held Rockhurst to just 26 total shots, including 11 on goal.

Nolan Hoffman again made six saves in for the Mavs, who had a 26-9 advantage in ground balls and a 44-26 edge in total shots.
 
The Mavs were a strong 3-for-5 on extra-man opportunities as Steinke, Brummett and Pernell all scored man-up goals.

Senior Recognition

The Mavericks will recognize nine players and volunteer assistant coach Flynn Ernst prior to Sunday's game during Senior Day festivities.

In uniform number order, Duncan Cross, Jake Keyes, Shane Starbuck, Trent Pernell, Carson Schwark, Blake Amiatu, Tanner Stopkoski, Jake Brummett and Anthony Boutwell are the players that will be recognized before what will likely be their final regular season home game. 

Cross, Starbuck, Amiatu and Stopkoski are all redshirt juniors on the official Maverick roster and could later choose to come back for a fifth year if they decided to make use of the NCAA's COVID eligibility waiver after the cancellation of a majority of the 2020 season.

Pernell also received a medical hardship as a freshman in 2019 and has up to two years of eligibility remaining.  He is a fourth-year redshirt sophomore on this year's roster.

Ernst was a senior on the Mavs' 2020 roster but did not have an opportunity to be recognized in Senior Day festivities that year due to the cancelation of the second half of the season.

The group of ten have made a combined 283 appearances for the Mavericks to date, recording 157 goals, 70 assists, 273 ground balls and 65 caused turnovers.

Perfection results in national lead

Maverick sophomore Dylan Checketts won all 17 of his and CMU's face-offs in Saturday's victory over Rockhurst.  In the process, he raised his season-long face-off winning percentage to .720 (170-236), which now puts him first in the NCAA Division II statistical leader list.

Checketts was ranked fifth at .700 going into last weekend's trip to the Midwest.

In 2021, the Herriman, Utah native posted a .716 (78-109) face-off winning percentage to earn RMAC Freshman of the Year honors while splitting time at the face-off "X" with Cole Emmanuel, who had a .712 winning percentage last year (74-104) before transferring to Division I Marquette.  Emmanuel also holds the Mavs' single-season school-record at .759, set in the pandemic-abbreviated 2020 season, a mark that Checketts could threaten if he continues to dominate the face-off game.

X Marks the Spot

Saturday's face-off domination was nothing new for the Mavericks, who have found a true gold mine at the face-off "X this season.  The Mavericks  have won the face-off battle in all but one of their 13 games this season (Quincy), often by very lopsided margins.
 
In total, the Mavericks have won 267 of their 373 draws this season, good for a .716 winning percentage, which is the second best in Division II behind only Seton Hill (.725).  The Mavs had ranked fifth as a team last week.
 
Jake Brummett has an individual winning percentage of .747 (71-95) but is not eligible for the NCAA statistical rankings as he has not taken more than 40 percent of the team's total draws.
 
Joey Grzetic IV (15-22; .682) and Mike Edwards (11-20; .550) also have winning face-off marks in their more limited opportunities this season.
 
CMU's program-record for face-off winning percentage is .759, set in the shortened 2020 campaign.  The Mavs also had a .707 mark in last year's somewhat abbreviated season.
 
20 Hats
 
The Mavericks combined for three more hat-tricks in their road wins last week and have now posted 20 hat-tricks this season.
 
Carson Schwark recorded the second of his season and the 11^th of his career in Thursday's win at Quincy before Jed Brummett and Trent Pernell recorded 3-goal efforts in Saturday's win at Rockhurst.  Pernell now has four hat-tricks this season, second only to AJ Switzer's five this season.
 
Brummett has two this season and eight in his career while Pernell has recorded seven in his time as a Maverick.
 
Moving up the scoring ladder
 
Fifth-year Maverick redshirt senior Carson Schwark has steadily moved up the Mavericks' career goal scoring charts this season and moved up another rung on Thursday with his hat-trick against Quincy.  He also added a goal and an assist in Saturday's win over Rockhurst and has now recorded 69 career goals in 52 games.  He has had at least one goal in each of the Mavs' last five games and has scored in nine of the last ten.
 
The Inver Grove Heights, Minnesota native is now in sixth place on the Mavs' all-time goal scoring charts, after passing Austin Pridham, who used to hold the No. 6 spot with 66 career goals.
 
Professional indoor lacrosse player Reece Callies occupies the No. 5 spot with 80 career markers.
 
Balanced scoring leaders
 
Schwark is one of four Mavericks who has scored 20 or more goals this season.  He and Trent Pernell both have 20 while AJ Switzer leads the team and the RMAC with 28.  James Steinke has 23.
 
The four Mavs are the only men in the RMAC to have reached the 20-goal mark so far this season.
 
Nearing the Century Mark
 
Carson Schwark is also approaching the 100 career-point milestone.  He had five offensive points in last week's games and now has 93, to stand in a tie for sixth with Joe Wulforst IV on the program's all-time leaders chart.  Schwark had been tied for eighth going into last week with Daniel Caddoo at while also passing Austin Pridham (90).
 
Schwark has 22 points this season, with his 20 goals and two assists.  He has 24 assists in his career.
 
Maverick redshirt sophomore AJ Switzer is also lurking just behind with 90 career offensive points.  He has scored 58 goals while assisting on 32 others in just 31 career games.  Switzer has already posted a career-high 37 points this season to rank second on the team and third in the RMAC this season.  Switzer currently stands ninth on the Mavs' all-time charts and is just one behind Pridham and three behind Schwark and Wulforst IV.
 
Another current Maverick in James Steinke is now 15^th in Maverick history with 77 career points (40 goals, 37 assists).
 
Streaking Steinke
 
Maverick James Steinke has been on a scoring tear this season having scored at least once in all 13 games this year and each of the last 14 dating back to last year.  He had a goal and two assists in each of the Mavs' two wins last week.
 
Earning three RMAC Offensive Player of the Week honors this season, Steinke is second in the conference for goals with 23.  He also leads the Mavericks for both assists (20) and offensive points (43) and ranks second in the RMAC in both of those categories as well.
 
In the poll
 
The Mavericks moved up a spot to a season-high 17^th in this week's USILA/Dynamic Coaches' Division II Poll, released on Monday afternoon.  The No. 18 ranking is the Mavs' highest of the season.   The Mavs are now receiving a season-high 90 points in the poll.  Their only three losses this season have come against teams ranked above them in the poll. 
 
Tampa, a team that edged the Mavs by just three goals, continues to hold down the No. 1 spot and is just one of two undefeated teams in the country at 12-0.  Adelphi, the only other undefeated team, is 11-0 and ranked fourth behind 1-loss Le Moyne and Limestone squads.  Mercy continues to rounds out the unchanged top-5.
 
CMU's only other losses have come to Florida Tech and Rollins, who now sit 12^th and 13^th in the poll. 
 
Florida Tech (10-4) posted two wins last week, including an overtime thriller over then No. 12 Florida Southern to climb two spots to the 12^th spot this week.
 
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 26 of their last 31 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 122-46 all-time, good for a .726 winning percentage that is fifth best amongst active Division II programs.
 
Home Sweet Home
 
Heading into this Sunday's Senior Day contest against Adams State, the last regular season home game of the year, the Mavericks have posted a 51-8 all-time record at home since beginning their program in 2011, good for an .864 home field winning percentage.  The Mavericks had a 20-game home field winning streak from 2016-18 and have now won 31 of their last 34 games at Community Hospital Unity Field.
 
The Mavs are 3-0 at home this season and will also hope to host the RMAC Tournament on May 6-7, a right they would earn if they were to win the RMAC's regular season title.
 
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 38-4 (.905) in RMAC play since the conference began sponsoring the sport in 2016.  They have won ten straight RMAC regular-season games over the last three seasons.
 
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 91-25 career record.  His .784 career winning percentage ranks him seventh amongst active NCAA coaches (all three divisions) with a minimum of five years as a head coach at the NCAA level.  He ranks fourth amongst Division II coaches.
 
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 and the Mavs are 15-0 against CSU Pueblo and ThunderWolf coach Sean Blair, also in his eighth season.
 
Smith is also a perfect 17-0 against Adams State in his coaching career and has won all nine coaching match-ups with the Grizzlies' fourth-year head coach Jerome Austin.
 
About the CSU Pueblo ThunderWolves
 
Friday's match-up with the ThunderWolves will be a re-match of CMU's recent 22-6 victory over the ThunderWolves on Apr. 10 in Grand Junction.
 
CSU Pueblo (2-6, 1-2 RMAC) has not played since.
 
Logan Naves scored two of the ThunderWolves' six goals in that game and is second on the team in scoring this season with 17 goals.
 
Fellow Sophomore Aryan Krause leads the team with 18 goals and is atop the RMAC for both assists (24) and total points (42).  He had scored six goals while assisting on seven others in the Pack's preceding 18-5 win against Adams State on Apr. 2.  Neves scored the first four in that victory.
 
Cameron Hancock (13 goals, 7 assists) and Dylan Johnson (10 goals, 1 assist) are also in double-figures for goals and points.
 
Sophomore Tyler Gardner is 53-for-173 (.306) at the team's primary face-off man and leads the team with 26 ground balls, one more than goalie Ethan Ferrie.
 
Ferrie has started all eight and has played for all but 21 minutes of the Pack's season, recording 120 saves and a solid .548 save percentage.  He has a 15.16 goals against average.
 
Ferrie leads the RMAC and ranks fourth in the nation for saves per game and is second in the conference and 24^th nationally in save percentage. 
 
As a team, the ThunderWolves lead the country in man-down defense at .970 having killed all but one of the 33 extra-man opportunities against them.
 
Krause is fourth is sixth in the country for assists per game and tenth for points per game.
 
About the Adams State Grizzlies
 
The Grizzlies have also been off for quite some time having last played on Apr. 10 at Westminster, when they were defeated, 23-2, in Salt Lake City.  They will host the Griffins on Friday before heading to Grand Junction for Sunday's encounter.
 
The Grizzlies are currently 1-5 overall and are 0-3 in RMAC play.  They claimed their lone win by a 12-11 margin over Quincy on Mar. 23, but have been beaten by double-figure margins in their other five games to date.
 
Jacob Austin, the son of the Grizzlies' head coach Jerome Austin, and Kyle Coking are tied for the team lead with six goals and seven offensive points.  Ron Johnson and Dawson Balabanoff also have three goals each for the Grizzlies, who have been out-scored by a combined by a 112-29 margin this season.
 
Mason Anderson scored two of the Grizzlies' four goals in the first match-up with Colorado Mesa, which the Mavericks won 21-4 on Mar. 5 in Alamosa.
 
Luke Meyers has taken a vast majority of the Grizzlies' face-offs and has won 58 of 128 (.453).  He also leads the ground balls with 22.  Declan Larm has nine caused turnovers to lead the team and is second on the squad behind Meyers in ground balls with 14.
 
Brendan Williams has started five of ASU's six games in goal and has made 72 saves, good for a .439 save percentage.  He has an 18.15 goals against average.
 
Series Histories
 
The Mavericks are undefeated and a combined 40-0 against this week's RMAC foes.
 
They are a perfect 15-0 against CSU Pueblo since the ThunderWolves started their program in 2015.
 
CMU is 6-0 against the Pack in Pueblo, having won last year's game there by a 19-2 margin.
 
The Mavs are 25-0 all-time against Adams State since both institutions started their programs in 2011.  CMU is 14-0 against the Grizzlies at home and won both of last year's two home games by a combined 45-8 margin, including the 23-3 regular season contest on Apr. 25 and the 22-5 RMAC Tournament semifinal win on May 7.
 
Up Next
 
The Mavericks will close out the regular season next Saturday (Apr. 30) when they square off with the Westminster College Griffins at 11 a.m. that morning in Salt Lake City.
 
The RMAC Tournament will then be played the following weekend on Friday, May 6 and Saturday, May 7 at the home site of the No. 1 seed.