GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. – Colorado Mesa jumped out to a first-quarter lead and did just enough to hold a resilient Westminster team at bay, winning 21-16 on its home turf at Community Hospital Unity Field to claim the 2023 RMAC Tournament championship.

This game had a little bit – or maybe a lot – of everything: 37 goals, 37 turnovers, 94 shots, 13 penalties, and one conference title heading CMU's way.

It is the fifth RMAC Tournament title in program history and second straight for the Mavericks, who have now won tournament championships in 2016, 2017, 2018, 2022 and 2023. The Mavs have now recorded three wins in the same season against the archrival Griffins for the first time since 2018.

The win gives CMU a 5-2 record in RMAC Tournament finals against Westminster. The win also gives new CMU head coach Troy Moyer a regular season and conference tournament double in his first season in charge after serving as an assistant coach on both the 2022 team that won last year's title and the 2021 team that fell to the Griffins in the final. As a head coach, Moyer now has a 16-2 overall record, an 8-0 record against RMAC teams (regular season and tournament) and a 3-0 record against the Griffins and 2023 RMAC Coach of the Year Joe Kerwin.

Jed Brummett broke the CMU single season goalscoring record with his first of five goals on the night and now has 63 goals and counting in 2023. James Steinke scored four goals while Drew Eickelman and Hunter Holcomb each had a goal and three assists. Westminster's Mike Spaeth (two goals, four assists) had a game-high six points in a losing effort for the Griffins.

With a conference championship secured and on a nine-game winning streak, the Mavs will now have an anxious 48 hours waiting for the NCAA Tournament selection committee's decision, which will be released Sunday. The Mavericks entered the week ranked No. 7 in the South Region with the top six teams qualifying, but No. 5 Indianapolis may have opened a door for CMU by losing Friday night in their conference tournament semifinals.

Before they could think about Sunday, however, the Mavs had to get through another dogfight with Westminster. The two programs have battled in all seven men's lacrosse RMAC Tournament finals that have ever been played, and the Griffins certainly gave the Mavericks their best shot this time around. For the second straight game, the Mavericks fell behind 1-0 when Westminster opened the scoring a minute in, and for the second straight game, the Mavericks answered with a wave of goals.

James Steinke tied the game before Jed Brummett set the record with his 59^th of the season with 12:40 in the first. Braden Lowe, AJ Switzer and Philip Petersen then scored to make it 5-1. When Westminster responded with a goal, Dylan Checketts won the ensuing faceoff (part of a 24-for-35 day in the "X" for the former All-American) and ran the length of the field to score his fifth goal of the season, unassisted.

The Mavs led 7-3 at the end of the first quarter, but that would be the biggest lead that CMU would have until the final seconds. The Griffins outscored CMU 5-3 in the second quarter and both teams scored five apiece in the third quarter. Westminster cut the lead to one on multiple occasions in the third quarter at 10-9 and 14-13, but never tied the score or took the lead after their 1-0 start.

Westminster took advantage of opportunities to stay in the game, finishing 3-for-6 in extra man opportunities. The Mavericks scored two man-up goals and tallied their third man-down goal of the season when James Steinke scored from Drew Eickelman with 4:25 left in the first half to make it 10-7, Mavs.

CMU's second man-up goal was the most critical. Westminster scored three out of four goals to cut the lead to 19-16 with six minutes left to play, but a significant penalty on RMAC Co-Defensive Player of the Year Timothy McGuire gave the Mavericks a key extra man opportunity, which they converted via Jed Brummett's fifth goal of the game to extend the lead to four.

With the Mavericks desperately trying to bleed clock, Levi McCoy capped the night with the dictionary definition of a solo goal, evading a Westminster double-team around the field for nearly a minute before snaking his way to beat the shot clock and score with 1:12 left to provide the final margin of 21-16.

Beyond Jed Brummett's five goals and James Steinke's four goals, JJ Brummett and AJ Switzer scored twice while Philip Petersen, Alex Blatt and Sal Iaria were among the others with a single goal.

The 21 goals are the most this season allowed by RMAC Goalie of the Year Jacob Miller, who still kept Westminster in the game by making 17 saves. Colorado Mesa outshot Westminster 64-30 and doubled up in shots on goal, 38-19.

Westminster kept the game close by having an extremely efficient night offensively, as the CMU goalie tandem of Mac Bayless (36 minutes) and Calvin Doucette (24 minutes) only made three saves all game long. Westminster was hurt in part by committing 23 turnovers, including a game-high four from RMAC Midfielder of the Year Camden Rossi.

Joseph Celentano and Luke Silstrop each had hat tricks to lead the Griffins offensively. RMAC Co-Attacker of the Year Merritt McMahon also played well, tallying two goals and two assists to bring his season total to 40 points. CMU's AJ Switzer, who shared the award with McMahon, scored twice in Friday's game to reach 78 points this year, just one shy of the CMU single-season record held by Steve Brandenberg.

All that's left for the Mavericks now is to find out if they have another game. The NCAA selection show will take place at 5:30 p.m. (MT) as a livestream on NCAA.com. The Mavericks will be seeking their second tournament appearance in program history after last qualifying in 2018, and if selected, will be vying for their first tournament win.

2023 Men's Lacrosse All-Tournament Team

Name	Pos.	Class	School
Jed Brummett (MVP)	A	RJr.	Colorado Mesa
Drew Eickelman	M	RJr.	Colorado Mesa
James Steinke	M/A	RJr.	Colorado Mesa
Dylan Checketts	FO	Jr.	Colorado Mesa
AJ Switzer	A/M	RJr.	Colorado Mesa
Camden Rossi	M	Fr.	Westminster
Merritt McMahon	A	Sr.	Westminster
Mike Speath	M	Sr.	Westminster
Jacob Miller	G	Jr.	Westminster
Travis Brave-Heart	A	Gr.	Adams State
Logan Naves	A	Sr.	CSU Pueblo