GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. – Colorado Mesa had some nervous moments as a six-goal lead got trimmed down to one on multiple occasions, but the Mavericks defeated main RMAC rivals Westminster 14-13 to sweep the season series over the Griffins.

With the win, Colorado Mesa clinched at least a share of the RMAC regular season title, and the Mavs need to win just one of their remaining two games to clinch the title outright. Thanks to now holding the head-to-head tiebreaker over Westminster, CMU is guaranteed to host next weekend's RMAC Tournament. The Mavericks now close the regular season against CSU Pueblo on April 28 and Adams State on April 30, both at home.

Looking Back
The Mavericks kept their undefeated RMAC record intact with a 14-13 win over Westminster, improving to 4-0 in conference play with a pair of wins over the Griffins, who split last year's regular season title with CMU.

RECAP: Westminster

AJ Switzer led the way with five goals and two assists for seven points, Jed Brummett added a hat trick and Sal Iaria had a trio of assists along with a goal for a four-point night.

There's No Place Like Home
Colorado Mesa will conclude the regular season with two home games, which will triple the amount of home games that CMU has played by the end of the week.

The Mavericks have more than paid their dues in terms of hitting the road. Out of the 14 contests under their belt thus far, the Mavericks have played just one home game, only four games in the state of Colorado and only six games in the Mountain time zone this season.

The Mavericks opened the season with 10 games away from home (eight true road games and two neutral-site games) prior to their first game in Grand Junction against Westminster. Following the first game with the Griffins, CMU immediately had to head back on the road to play all three RMAC opponents consecutively away from home.

Fortunately, thanks to CMU's success throughout the season, the Mavs won't have to leave home for the next couple of weeks. Not only do the Mavericks host CSU Pueblo and Adams State this weekend, but the Mavericks are guaranteed to be at home for the four-team RMAC Tournament taking place on May 4-5.

The Mavericks haven't lost a home game since the 2021 RMAC championship game against Westminster. The Mavs haven't lost a regular season home game since 2019, also against Westminster, and are 10-0 in the regular season at Community Hospital Unity Field since.

Regional Rankings
The first seeded regional rankings were a good sign for a Colorado Mesa team hoping to reach the second NCAA Tournament in program history. After releasing an alphabetical list last week, the NCAA ranked the top eight teams that it considers to be in contention for the six South Regional spots in the NCAA Tournament.

Colorado Mesa comes in sixth, trailing Rollins, Tampa, Wingate, UIndy and Lenoir-Rhyne. The Mavs are ranked ahead of No. 7 Limestone and No. 8 Newberry. While the NCAA uses ranking criteria independent of the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (USILA), the most recent USILA poll also has No. 12 CMU as the sixth-best team in the South Region, trailing No. 2 Wingate, No. 3 Rollins, No. UIndy, No. 6 Lenoir-Rhyne, No. 7 Tampa and just ahead of No. 13 Limestone and No. 17 Newberry.

Crucially, this regional ranking update puts Colorado Mesa in the sixth and final qualification position for the NCAA Tournament. If the season ended today, the Mavericks would play at Wingate in the NCAA Tournament first round, with the winner facing Tampa, the defending national champions.

Scoring Squad
The 14 goals scored in the win over Westminster marked just the third time all season that CMU fell short of scoring 15. With numbers like that, it's no surprise the Mavericks are dominating every offensive category in the RMAC.

Colorado Mesa has 249 goals on the season, dwarfing Westminster in second place with 177. The Mavericks also have 152 assists, compared to 91 for Westminster, 43 for CSU Pueblo and 30 for Adams State. Colorado Mesa is scoring on 34.4 percent of their shot attempts, with Westminster at 32.4 percent being the only other RMAC school higher than 26 percent.

With all the team statistics so far in CMU's favor, it makes sense that CMU is dominating the individual leaderboards. The Mavericks boast the top two goalscorers in the conference in Jed Brummett (47) and AJ Switzer (31). James Steinke is in fourth place in the RMAC with 24 goals, while Drew Eickelman ranks seventh with 21 goals.

The assist and points rankings are even more Maverick-heavy. Colorado Mesa has the top four assist-getters in the conference in Switzer (33), Steinke (20), Drew Eickelman (20) and Sal Iaria (19). Switzer has already blown past CMU's single-season program record for assists, which was set last year by Steinke with 28. In addition, Switzer (68) and Steinke (65) are neck-and-neck for the program's all-time career assist lead after both players have gone past previous record-holder Reece Callies (56) this season.

That combination of scoring and playmaking means the top four points scorers in the RMAC all wear Maverick uniforms. Switzer leads the way with 64 points, followed by Brummett (49), Steinke (44) and Drew Eickelman (41).

Long Time Coming
Mac Bayless has had to wait for his first extended opportunity at the collegiate level, but he has made the most of it.

Bayless spent two years on the roster of perennial powerhouse Tampa without appearing in a game. After transferring to CMU, Bayless made five reserve appearances in 2022, making four saves against five goals allowed in 48:49 of total game time. The relief outings continued at the beginning of 2023, as Bayless had three appearances lasting in between 20 and 30 minutes early in the year, totaling 11 saves against 10 goals against.

The redshirt sophomore from Lakeland, Florida earned his first start of the season in the RMAC opener against Westminster, posting a .667 save percentage before being pulled with 10 minutes to go and the game well in hand. The Mavericks utilized all four rostered goalies against Adams State and CSU Pueblo, but Bayless was given the honor of starting both games, accumulating five saves against just one goal conceded in the two opening quarters he was in the cage.

Last Sunday, Bayless played an entire 60 minutes in goal for the first time and sparkled, making 14 big saves in a narrow 14-13 win over Westminster which all but clinched the RMAC title for CMU. Bayless earned the RMAC Defensive Player of the Week award for his performance, the first such honor of his career, and can be expected to keep his place in the starting lineup moving forward.

Bayless becomes the sixth different Maverick to win an RMAC Defensive Player of the Week award this season, joining Calvin Doucette, Dylan Checketts (3x), Trey Corkin III, Jake Eickelman and Mike Edwards. Three Mavericks have taken home offensive weekly honors: Drew Eickelman, Jed Brummett (3x) and AJ Switzer (4x, including last week alongside Bayless). Colorado Mesa players have secured 8 of 11 offensive weekly awards and 8 of 11 defensive weekly awards in the conference this year.

About CSU Pueblo
The CSU Pueblo ThunderWolves will enter at 1-11 overall, with a 1-4 mark in the RMAC. The ThunderWolves will be playing CMU off the back of one of the more disheartening program losses in recent memory, as they dropped a game 9-8 to Adams State last Saturday to break what had been a streak of 10 straight wins against the Grizzlies, including an 11-6 win over ASU earlier in the year.

Highlands Ranch, Colorado senior Logan Naves has the narrow team points lead with 26 between his 14 goals and 12 assists. Naves scored one goal in CSUP's 22-5 loss to CMU, as no ThunderWolves player found the net more than once. Freshman Lane Lessley has impressed with a team-high 18 goals, including his second hat trick of the season in the loss to Adams State.

Nathan Liderman remains the only player outside the RMAC's top two teams (CMU and Westminster) to win an RMAC Offensive Player of the Week award after a four-goal performance against nationally-ranked Lynn back on March 4, but a hat trick against ASU last Saturday was just his second multi-goal game in the month of April.

Ethan Ferrie remains a very talented option in net for the ThunderWolves. Ferrie allows a league-worst 15.18 goals against average, but most of that is on sheer volume as he leads the conference in total saves (174) and ranks second in save percentage (.510).

The Mavericks are 18-0 all-time against CSUP after winning 22-5 earlier this season. On paper, last year's trip to Pueblo was the closest game ever between CSU Pueblo and the Mavs, with the 10-6 final score marking the smallest Maverick margin of victory and lowest CMU goal total in series history. Even that game wasn't down to the wire, however, as CMU led 3-0 and 9-3 before Pueblo closed the game with a late run.

Aside from the scoreline of 10 last season, the fewest goals the Mavericks have scored against the ThunderWolves is 16, in the first-ever meeting between the schools in 2015. In the 17 meetings since, the Mavericks have netted no fewer than 17 goals, including 10 games with 20 or more goals and the high point of a 32-6 win in Grand Junction in 2018. Prior to the 10-6 game on the road, CMU beat CSU Pueblo 22-6 at home in 2022 and then beat the ThunderWolves 17-10 in the RMAC Tournament semifinals.

About Adams State
Adams State took a huge leap forward as a program, knocking off CSU Pueblo 9-8 last weekend for its first RMAC win since April 7, 2017 against Maryville, which no longer competes in the conference. Adams State had lost 27 consecutive games to RMAC opponents prior to that victory.

Despite the Pueblo triumph and a win over NAIA school Missouri Baptist, Adams State has 22-3 and 21-3 losses to Colorado Mesa and Westminster, respectively, on its resume, and needs to play both schools again this weekend to close out the season. ASU will face Westminster on Friday while CMU faces CSU Pueblo, then the regular season will be over for the RMAC's other two teams while Adams and CMU play on Sunday.

Junior Tyler Hubbard leads the way with 12 goals and four assists, including the dramatic game-winner with seven seconds left to defeat CSU Pueblo. Travis Brave Heart is just behind with 12 goals and three assists, but has just four goals in RMAC play, while Dawson Balabanoff aided the winning effort against CSUP with a hat trick and now has 10 goals this year. Hubbard, Balabanoff and Daniell Joy (six goals, one assist) recorded ASU's three goals against the Mavericks earlier this year.

Primary goalkeeper Ryan Berger has a .460 save percentage and a 14.45 goals-against average. Adams State is hurt by only scoring on 26 percent of their shot attempts, while ASU's opponents average 33 percent (and the Mavericks average 34.5 percent). The Grizzlies have allowed 15 man-up goals this season and opponents are converting 43 percent of their man-up opportunities against Adams State.

In the Polls
Colorado Mesa remained at No. 12 in Monday's latest edition of the USILA National Top 20 Poll, standing pat at what was their highest selection of the season when the Mavs moved up to No. 12 two weeks ago. Both teams to beat the Mavericks this season are also ranked, with Tampa at No. 7 and Belmont Abbey at No. 18. The highlight of CMU's resume is a win over No. 3 Rollins, the only loss of the season for the 13-1 Tars.

The Mavs finished atop the RMAC Preseason Coaches' Poll, earning all three possible first-place votes. This marks a return to the number one spot for CMU, which ranked second in last year's preseason poll behind Westminster.

Westminster finished second this year, receiving two second place votes and Colorado Mesa's first-place vote as no coach could vote for their own program. CSU Pueblo and Adams State tied for third in the poll with one second-place vote and two third-place votes each.

Head Honcho
The 2022-23 season will be the first in charge for new head coach Troy Moyer, who has served as an assistant at CMU since the 2019 season.

Former head coach Vince Smith resigned to pursue other opportunities after winning his third RMAC Coach of the Year award in 2022. Moyer was named the interim head coach after Smith's departure on July 13 and was hired as the permanent head coach on September 30. Moyer retained all current players through the coaching transition.

With Moyer as an assistant coach, Colorado Mesa has won two regular season RMAC titles and the RMAC Tournament Championship last season. Prior to Colorado Mesa, Moyer coached at Division III Muhlenberg College in Allentown, Pennsylvania, his home state. He played Division I Lacrosse at Sacred Heart University.