COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Colorado Mesa men's lacrosse got off to a flying start offensively and made enough defensive plays down the stretch to defeat Colorado College 15-9 in the 2023 season opener.

Jed Brummett recorded a hat trick to pace the scoring. Two of Brumett's goals came in the first period as the Mavericks scored eight goals in the first 15 minutes and led by six after a quarter.

Drew Eickelman, James Steinke, Hunter Holcomb and Dylan Checketts scored two goals apiece with Eickelman adding three assists for a five-point night. Calvin Doucette made 11 saves against nine goals allowed to get his first win of the season in net.

Sophomore defenseman Caden Wynne scored the first goal of his career and the 2023 season just a minute into the game for the Mavericks and goals by Alex Blatt and Steinke gave CMU a 3-2 lead as the game passed the 10-minute mark.

Then the floodgates opened, as the Mavericks scored five times in the final five minutes of the first quarter. Jed Brummett scored his first off an assist from Eickelman with 4:41 left before Checketts found the net just six seconds later. Brummett scored his second goal 40 seconds after that before his brother, JJ Brummett, got an assist on Eickelman's first goal. James Steinke scored his second of the game with eight seconds left in the period to put CMU up 8-2.

Drew Eickelman and JJ Brummett scored in the second period as the Mavs went into half-time up 11-4, but Colorado College had a few punches left in the second half. The Tigers scored 12 seconds into the new half and outshot Colorado Mesa 22-8 in the third period. Doucette came up big with five saves, however, and Jed Brummett completed his hat trick as the third quarter expired with the Mavs up 13-7. Doucette added three more saves in the fourth quarter while his CC counterpart, Ben Anastos, made five saves in the final period and 13 in the game to prevent CMU from scoring more.

Colorado College outshot CMU 47-43, but the Mavericks put more attempts on goal by a margin of 28-20. The Mavericks also went 13-for-13 on clears for the game, including 7-for-7 in the fourth quarter. Colorado Mesa also enjoyed a 15-11 advantage in face-off wins.

The Mavericks will head on their first extended road trip of the season starting next Thursday, facing Lees-McRae College, Belmont Abbey College and the University of Mount Olive over the span of six days, all in the state of North Carolina. Thursday's meeting against Lees-McRae is scheduled to begin at 2 p.m.