SALT LAKE CITY – Colorado Mesa scored seven of the match's final nine goals to collect a major neutral-site win, 15-10, over No. 7 Rollins from Salt Lake City on Saturday.
The victory improves CMU's record to 6-1 and gives the Mavericks a very good chance of being ranked in the USILA's Top 20 ahead of next weekend's trip to Florida that will see them face two of the nation's top 15 teams.
Jed Brummett had a team-high three goals to extend his streak to seven consecutive games with a hat trick or better to begin the season.
James Steinke,
Drew Eickelman,
Alex Blatt and
Sergio Pelayo had two goals apiece for CMU.
The Mavs held the advantage in shots (39-26), shots on goal (26-22) and ground balls (26-23). The team was a perfect 17 for 17 in clears and had a 15-8 faceoff edge, led by
Dylan Checketts, who had 12 faceoff wins as well as his third goal of the season.
The first quarter ended with the Mavs up 3-2 thanks to two goals from
Jed Brummett and a tally from
Hunter Holcomb. Pelayo's two goals and scores from Blatt and
JJ Brummett helped give CMU a 7-6 advantage at halftime. Brummett completed his hat trick three minutes into the second half, but Rollins rallied to tie the game at 8-8 with nine minutes to go in the third.
The Mavericks were undettered, ripping off four quick goals as
James Steinke's second gave CMU a 12-9 lead with seven minutes to play. Rollins answered with one final strike, but
Levi McCoy,
Drew Eickelman and Checketts all scored within the game's final three minutes to push the final margin to five.
Colorado Mesa has now won four straight games and has scored 15 goals or more in all six of its wins. Up ahead looms a trip to Florida, where CMU will face No. 15 Florida Tech on Saturday, March 18 and No. 6 Tampa, the defending national champions, two days later.