GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. – Although they lost a de facto RMAC regular season championship game last Sunday, Colorado Mesa men's soccer still received a first-round bye in the RMAC tournament.

The Mavericks got the No. 2 seed in the RMAC Tournament and watched along on Thursday as third-seeded CSU Pueblo beat sixth-seeded MSU Denver 1-0 to set up a semifinal matchup between the ThunderWolves and CMU.

The Mavs are no stranger to RMAC Tournament clashes with CSU Pueblo, topping the Pack in the championship match to win the 2021 RMAC tournament, but Pueblo upped its postseason pedigree last season by going on a run to the NCAA national championship game in 2022.

Kickoff is Sunday at noon at Community Hospital Unity Field in Grand Junction. It will be the first half of a Sunday playoff doubleheader, as the fourth-seeded CMU women's team will play fifth-seeded MSU Denver in an RMAC Tournament quarterfinal at 3 p.m.

Under a new policy enacted by the RMAC, conference tournament games are now on a pay-per-view model. The game can also be followed via live stats and tickets remain available.

A Note From the RMAC
The Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference has announced the addition of a subscription model to all 2023-24 RMAC championship broadcasts on the RMAC Network, the league announced Wednesday. The announcement comes after support from league leadership in the summer to implement the pay-per-view concept as a manner to offset the league's broadcasting initiatives and operations associated with championship events.
 
Among the RMAC fall championship sports within the subscription model are all three rounds of tournament play for men's soccer, women's soccer and volleyball. Winter sports with championship events within the league's subscription model are men's basketball, women's basketball, women's wrestling, indoor track and field and swimming and diving. Men's lacrosse, women's lacrosse, baseball, softball and outdoor track and field round out the subscription events for the 2023-24 academic year.
 
Fans will be able to purchase day passes for each day of tournament play, priced at $9.95 per day. To purchase the day pass, fans will navigate to www.rmacnetwork.com and will be directed to select the institution that they are supporting through their viewership. Once the payment submission is complete, fans will have access to any RMAC championship contest available for that specific sport. Day passes will expire within 24 hours of the purchase.
 
For technical support questions, fans may submit a support ticket with Hudl Support or email the RMAC directly (help@rmacsports.org). For further support, fans can visit the RMAC Network Help page.

Looking Back
The Mavericks rolled to a 4-0 win victory on Senior Night over Adams State, but Colorado Mesa lost its first RMAC game in its last regular season match, falling 3-0 to Fort Lewis. The Skyhawks clinched the RMAC regular season title and the No. 1 seed in the RMAC Tournament while the Mavericks finished second.

RECAPS: Adams State | Fort Lewis

Fernando Morales, Joao Pedro Moraes, Joey Joiner and Manuel Ponce Casas scored against Adams State. The Mavericks gave up two goals to FLC forward Anton Hjalmarsson, who would be named both the RMAC Player of the Year and the RMAC Freshman of the Year just four days later. Manuel Ponce Casas had a team-high four shots for Colorado Mesa while Joey Joiner had two shots and a shot on goal.

Rivalry Renewed
Colorado Mesa and CSU Pueblo have played some contentious battles over the years. Colorado Mesa leads the all-time series over the ThunderWolves 15-6-4, but the Mavs are winless in their last three games against the Pack, including the 0-0 stalemate the two clubs played to earlier this season.  

The Mavs' most recent win was in the most significant clash between the two sides in the 2021 RMAC Tournament championship game, when the second-seeded Mavs topped the fourth-seeded ThunderWolves 3-1 to win CMU's third RMAC Tournament title. Pueblo scored just five minutes into the match, but the Mavs rallied with goals from Joey Joiner, Fernando Morales and Alec Fronapfel, all of whom remain on this year's team.

The tides turned in the 2022 season, however, when CSU Pueblo beat the Mavericks head-to-head twice in the span of five days. The Pack won 2-1 in a nonconference game in Pueblo before opening the RMAC season with a 1-0 victory in Grand Junction. Both matches were chippy affairs, as the two teams combined for eight yellow cards (six to CSUP, two to CMU) in the Pueblo match and combined for 24 fouls during both meetings.

Despite all its recent success and win percentages, CSU Pueblo is still waiting on a trophy. The ThunderWolves have been agonizingly close, losing in the RMAC Tournament title game in each of the last two seasons as well as the NCAA championship game this past year. Both the Mavericks and ThunderWolves will not be short on motivation with RMAC and potentially NCAA bragging rights on the line.

Final Standings
The RMAC was unbelievably close all season, as no team in the 11-team conference clinched a spot in the six-team RMAC tournament until the final week of the season. The regular season title also came down to the final day, as Fort Lewis and Colorado Mesa each had a chance to win the league prior to their match last Sunday.

Here is how the top of the standings finished. Teams receive three points for a win and one point for a tie, and teams that qualified for the RMAC Tournament are marked with an asterisk (*). Teams with a number in front of them (#21) signifies their United Soccer Coaches national ranking.
 

School	RMAC Record (W-L-T)	Pts
*#12 Fort Lewis	6-1-3	21
*#21 Colorado Mesa	5-1-4	19
*#15 CSU Pueblo	6-3-1	19
*UCCS	5-2-3	18
*Westminster	5-2-3	18
*MSU Denver	5-3-2	17
Colorado School of Mines	4-4-2	14

 
UCCS won the tiebreaker for fourth over Westminster by beating the Griffins 3-2 head-to-head during the regular season. Breaking the tie for second between Colorado Mesa and CSU Pueblo was not as simple.

The Mavericks finished even with CSU Pueblo on points, and the two teams also tied head-to-head during the season. It came all the way down to the fourth tiebreaker, total goals scored in conference play, and with CMU finding the net 21 times compared to the ThunderWolves' 16, the Mavericks edged ahead to claim the No. 2 seed.

Clinching the second seed rather than the third seed not only gives the Mavs homefield advantage this Sunday, but also prevented CMU from needing to play a game in midweek, like the ThunderWolves did to get past MSU Denver.  

Tournament Update
The official tournament seeds and records entering the men's soccer RMAC Tournament are as follows:

1. Fort Lewis (10-3-4, 6-1-3 RMAC)
2. Colorado Mesa (10-3-5, 5-1-4 RMAC)
3. CSU Pueblo (12-4-2, 6-3-1 RMAC)
4. UCCS (9-4-5, 5-2-3 RMAC)
5. Westminster (8-5-5, 5-2-3 RMAC)
6. MSU Denver (7-7-4, 5-3-2 RMAC)

Half of the six-team RMAC Tournament field has changed from a year ago. The two teams to earn first-round byes this season, Fort Lewis and Colorado Mesa, didn't even qualify for the tournament last year. Fort Lewis was picked ninth in the conference's preseason poll while the Mavericks were picked fourth.

MSU Denver also reached the tournament as the No. 6 seed, one year after missing out by a point and tying for seventh with last year's CMU squad. The fifth and sixth seeds from last year, Regis and Colorado Christian, each failed to make it back to the tournament. Most surprisingly, Colorado School of Mines has missed the RMAC tournament after winning both the regular season and tournament titles last season and being picked to finish second in the conference ahead of this year.

Fort Lewis and Colorado Mesa received byes for the quarterfinal round, which was held on Thursday. No. 3 CSU Pueblo topped No. 6 MSU Denver 1-0 behind Reggie Nicolas's 74^th minute goal. No. 4 UCCS beat No. 5 Westminster 2-1 in Colorado Springs, as Westminster led 1-0 at the half but goals from Nic Grotle and Peter Chang scored in the second half to allow the Mountain Lions to come back and advance.

Colorado Mesa and CSU Pueblo will play in the first semifinal at noon Sunday, with Fort Lewis and UCCS kicking off at 5 p.m. Sunday. The winners will play in the RMAC Tournament championship next weekend.

Regional Rankings
While the Mavericks are certainly in pursuit of the RMAC Tournament championship trophy, every win matters in terms of solidifying CMU's case to qualify for the NCAA Tournament.
The NCAA released the second edition of its regional rankings this week and listed the top 12 teams under consideration for 10 qualifying spots in ranked order for the first time.

For men's soccer, 40 teams qualify for the NCAA Tournament and are split up into four 10-team Super Regions. The Mavericks will strive to be one of the top 10 teams in Super Region 4, which is comprised of the RMAC, Lone Star Conference, Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC), California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) and the Pacific West (PacWest) Conference.

Colorado Mesa is currently ranked No. 10 in the regional rankings, meaning that if the season ended today, the Mavericks would be the last team in the NCAA tournament. The season doesn't end today, of course, so the Mavericks will need to use the RMAC Tournament to solidify their case and make sure they are able to punch a ticket to the national tournament for just the seventh time in school history and first time since the 2021 season.

Four RMAC teams are in the committee's top 12 – CSU Pueblo at No. 7, Fort Lewis at No. 9, Colorado Mesa at No. 10 and UCCS as the first team out at No. 11. Although its too early to know for sure and lots of things can happen in other conference tournaments, with the four RMAC teams so close to the tournament bubble, these tournament semifinals essentially could be tournament play-in games.

Midwestern State leads the South Central regional rankings, followed by Cal State LA, Cal Poly Pomona, Chico State and Simon Fraser in the top five. Among the rest of the non-RMAC teams in the rankings, Cal State Monterey Bay ranks sixth, Point Loma ranks eighth and Western Oregon ranks No. 12.

Colorado Mesa is a combined 0-2-3 against regionally-ranked teams. The Mavs have lost to Midwestern State and Fort Lewis and tied with Simon Fraser, CSU Pueblo and UCCS.

All-Conference
Five Colorado Mesa Mavericks received a mention as the RMAC released their all-conference teams and individual award winners. CMU's selections were highlighted by their two first-team picks, goalkeeper Diego Chavez and defender Raymond Jackson, along with the RMAC Goalkeeper of the Year honor for Chavez.

All-Conference Release

In addition to the two first-teamers, sophomore forward Manuel Ponce Casas earned a second-team selection while forwards Fernando Morales and Alec Fronapfel were named honorable mention.

GKU
Chavez's Goalkeeper of the Year continues a dynastic run of CMU keepers taking the RMAC's top honors at the position. With Chavez's win, a Maverick goalkeeper has now been the RMAC Goalkeeper of the Year in five of the last six seasons, and Chavez is the fourth individual goalie to win one during that run.

Micah Conrads became the first-ever CMU winner of the award in 2013 before the Mavs ripped off a run of four straight as Briley Guarneri (2018), Brendan Brown (2019 and 2020) and Connor Durant (2021) all won awards.

Colorado Mesa's six RMAC Goalkeeper of the Year awards since starting the program in 2007 is by far the school's most wins in any other men's soccer award category. In the same time span, the Mavs have claimed one RMAC Player of the Year award (Roy Abergil in 2016), four RMAC Defensive Player of the Year awards (last done by Ethan Anderson in 2020 and 2021) and two RMAC Coach of the Year awards (last done by Jon Fridal in 2020). The Mavericks have never won the RMAC Freshman of the Year award.

This season's other special awards were claimed by Fort Lewis's Anton Hjalmarrson (Player of the Year and Freshman of the Year) and David Oberholtzer (Coach of the Year) and CSU Pueblo's Shjon Andrews (Defensive Player of the Year).

In the Polls
Colorado Mesa fell four spots to No. 21 overall in the United Soccer Coaches national poll. While the United Soccer Coaches poll is a national survey of coaches and is helpful for establishing rankings throughout the regular season, the poll has no impact on the NCAA's rankings and selections for the national tournament.

The Mavericks are one of three RMAC teams ranked in the poll, alongside No. 12 Fort Lewis and No. 15 CSU Pueblo. CMU's Sunday matchup against No. 15 CSU Pueblo will be the fifth game for the Mavericks against a nationally ranked opponent this season. The previous ones (with ranking from the time of the game) were a 1-0 loss to No. 18 Midwestern State, a 1-0 loss to No. 22 Northwest Nazarene, a tie with No. 5 CSU Pueblo and a 3-0 loss to No. 23 Fort Lewis.

About CSU Pueblo
The CSU Pueblo ThunderWolves (13-4-2, 6-3-1 RMAC) began the year with lofty expectations after advancing to the national championship game of the NCAA Tournament, where they lost 2-0 to Franklin Pierce. Picked to win the conference in preseason, CSU Pueblo enters the tournament as the conference's No. 3 seed.

The ThunderWolves started off on a tear, going 11-1-1 through their first 13 games and spending much of the year ranked in the national top five. But the Pack hit a losing skid with two weeks to go in the season, failing to win four straight games (losses to Fort Lewis, Westminster and Regis along with a tie against Colorado Mesa).

CSU Pueblo got back on track with a 1-0 win against South Dakota Mines to end the regular season and won again by a 1-0 score over MSU Denver in the RMAC Tournament quarterfinals. In that match, CSUP dominated play, outshooting MSU Denver 18-1, but took over three-quarters of the match to break through. Reggie Nicolas scored the lone goal by heading in a cross from Noe Ortiz Pena and Pueblo saw out the rest of the match.

CSU Pueblo has strong numbers over the course of the season. The ThunderWolves rank second in the RMAC with 36 goals scored, and their 15 goals allowed is tied for the fewest in the league. CSUP ranks second in the conference in shots (292) and fourth in shots on goal (115).

The ThunderWolves are unafraid to get physical, leading the RMAC and ranking 26^th in Division II with 45 yellow cards and ranking second in the RMAC with 11.63 fouls per game. By contrast, the Mavericks have the fewest fouls per game (7.17) and second-fewest yellow cards (22) in the conference.

The ThunderWolves are loaded with star power, many of which were vital contributors to last year's postseason run. Senior forward Gabriel Campora leads the RMAC and ranks fifth in all of Division II with 15 goals scored this season, although he only has one in his last six matches. Senior midfielder Caio Oliveira leads the conference and ranks eighth in Division II with 10 assists.

Graduate student defender Shjon Andrews won his second consecutive RMAC Defensive Player of the Year award this week, leading the Pueblo defense that allowed fewer than a goal per match and contributing three goals and two assists on the offensive end.

CSU Pueblo featured prominently on the all-conference lists, with the ThunderWolves having the most first-team honorees (four) and most total honorees (six) of any RMAC team. Campora, Oliveria and Andrews all made the first team alongside senior midfielder Kenshin Uneo while defenders Ignatius DeMark and Dylan Zavatini were both second-teamers.

Head coach Oliver Twelvetrees has been with CSU Pueblo since 2020. In his four seasons with the Pack, he has amassed a strong 52-16-8 record, which includes a 3-2 record in the RMAC Tournament and a 5-2 record in the NCAA Tournament. Prior to Pueblo, Twelvetrees coached at Eastern Florida State College, where he led the Titans to a national junior college runner-up finish in 2019, and at Barton Community College, where he collected a 124-20-5 record in seven seasons.