LAKELAND, Fla. – Colorado Mesa encountered an opponent in a different weight class on Saturday morning, losing 24-12 to Florida Southern, the No. 6 team in the nation.
The Mavericks were outscored 7-1 in the first quarter and 8-1 in the third quarter against the Mocs, who improved to 9-1 with the victory. Colorado Mesa ends a three-game Florida road trip at 0-3 and the Mavs are now 3-4 on the season. The Mavericks are 3-0 against unranked opponents and 0-4 against ranked opponents.
Kiley Davis continued to perform for the Mavericks, scoring four goals plus an assist for five points while
Ali Bryant tallied a goal and three assists for a four-point evening. Freshman
Carson Dickey scored two goals to have multiple scores for the second consecutive game while redshirt junior
Regan Wentz had two goals to score more than one for the first time this season.
Florida Southern jumped out to an early lead with offensive efficiency in the first period. The Mocs scored four goals in the opening five minutes, including two man-up goals.
Kiley Davis put the Mavericks on the board, but the Mocs answered with four additional goals to lead 8-1 after 15 minutes. The Maverick offense improved in the second period, scoring six times including two apiece from Davis and Dickey.
The CMU defense never had a sustained period of success against the Florida Southern offense, however, as the Mocs added five goals in the second to lead 13-7 at half and then outscored the Mavs 7-1 in the third period. Florida Southern ended up scoring 24 times on 33 shots, with the Mavericks making four saves.
Colorado Mesa was even with Florida Southern on draw controls, as each side corralled 19. The Mavericks struggled with turnovers (committing 22 and forcing 15) and clears (5-for-13 overall).
The Mavericks have now completed the nonconference portion of their schedule. The next time CMU takes the field will be the opening RMAC game against Westminster at home on April 1. Westminster is receiving votes in the USILA National Poll which has CMU currently ranked No. 24.
