TAMPA, Fla. – Colorado Mesa men's lacrosse saw a five-game win streak snapped at the hands of the defending national champion Tampa Spartans, falling 19-11 in the second of three road games in Florida.

Canyon Birch scored six goals for the third-ranked Spartans, who stormed ahead with an eight-goal second quarter that saw Tampa take an 11-4 lead into halftime. The Spartans had two separate streaks of six unanswered goals in the game, the first of which turned a 2-1 CMU lead into a five-goal deficit for the Mavericks and the second of which opened things up to a 15-4 cushion midway through the third quarter.

Sergio Pelayo led the way for CMU with a hat trick while James Steinke had two goals and an assist for a three-point night. Drew Eickelman and Jed Brummett had two goals apiece for CMU. For Brummett, it is the first game this season without scoring three or more goals. Brummett scored a hat trick or better in eight consecutive games to start the year and now has 34 goals through nine games this season.

The Maverick offense was competitive despite the defeat, as CMU had only two fewer shots than Tampa and finished with more shots on goal (30-25). Tampa goalie Blake Ulmer starred in net, making 19 saves. Calvin Doucette finished with six saves in goal for the Mavericks. The Spartans also won 18 faceoffs to CMU's 14, the first time the Mavericks have lost the face-off battle this season.

Next up for the No. 15 Mavericks is a Wednesday game against Palm Beach Atlantic. Counter to the past three games that were all against ranked opposition, the Sailfish are currently 2-5 and lost to this same Tampa team 19-4 on March 11. The game is scheduled to start at 10 a.m. MT.