PUEBLO, Colo. – For the past month, AJ Switzer has been an assist machine. On Sunday, he decided to remind the world that he could score.

After tying the program's single-game assist record for three straight games and becoming the program's all-time career assist leader two days prior, Switzer grabbed the goalscoring lead on Sunday, netting a game-high five goals in a 22-5 win over CSU Pueblo. The win improves the No. 12-ranked Mavericks to 3-0 in conference play and 11-2 overall.

The five goals gave Switzer 25 on the season, moving him into third place for goalscoring in the RMAC behind CMU's Jed Brummett with 44 and Westminster's Merritt McMahon with 28. Switzer continues to lead the RMAC in assists by a wide margin and now has 57 points on the season, extending his conference lead to 11 over Brummett's 46.

Hunter Holcomb had a first-half hat trick for the Mavericks, joining Switzer as the only Mavs with three or more goals during a balanced offensive effort that allowed CMU to go deep into their bench. James Steinke, Braden Lowe and Jed Brummett had two goals apiece while eight Mavericks scored once to complete the rout.

The Mavericks raced out to a 9-1 lead after the opening quarter. Switzer and Holcomb had dueling hat tricks in the first period along with two goals from Jed Brummett and a tally from Logan Smith. Switzer provided the perfect bookend from the first quarter to the second quarter, scoring his third goal of the game with 43 seconds left in the opening period, then only needing 37 seconds to get CMU on the board in the second quarter. Drew Eickelman assisted on both of those goals.

Lowe scored back-to-back goals exactly five minutes apart midway through the second as CMU began to cruise for his fifth and sixth goals of the season, being assisted by Sal Iaria and Philip Petersen. Iaria had a two-assist night to somewhat quietly move into fourth place on the team and tied for fourth in the RMAC with 17 assists on the season. Petersen moved above 20 total points on the year with a goal and two assists against the ThunderWolves.

Jake Eickelman, Connor Jensen, Ethan Points and Alex Blatt scored single tallies for CMU in the second quarter, as the Mavs led 17-2 at halftime. Drew Eickelman got on the scoresheet just three minutes into the second half and Switzer set up Steinke for his second goal of the game to make it 19-2. Although Pueblo rallied some with three goals in the final 21 minutes, CMU answered with goals from Petersen and a first career goal for freshman Ben Kester before Switzer capped things off with a man-up goal from Steinke to make it 22-5.

The Mavericks outshot CSU Pueblo 53-35, including 40-17 in shots on goal. Despite eventually allowing 22 goals, ThunderWolves goalie Ethan Ferrie made 18 saves and continues to lead the RMAC in that category. For the second straight game, Colorado Mesa played all four goalies on its roster for 15 minutes each. Mac Bayless and Luke Parrish led the way with four saves apiece.

Colorado Mesa dominated the faceoff circle, winning 23 of 30 matchups. Individually, Dylan Checketts won 8 of 11 from the circle while Mike Edwards won 7 of 9 and freshman Kanyan Rhodes won 8 of 10. CSU Pueblo did well from man-up opportunities, converting 3 of 8 for the game to score more than half its goals with a man advantage.

After notching three RMAC wins by 15 goals or more, Colorado Mesa will begin the cycle for a second time as only three games now remain before the RMAC Tournament. A key clash on the road against longtime rivals Westminster awaits on Sunday, April 23 before the Mavs close the regular season by hosting CSU Pueblo and Adams State on April 28 and 30.