GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. – In its final games before the start of the conference season, Colorado Mesa men's soccer secured a pair of wins to run its record up to 5-2-1. In the process, the Mavericks entered the national rankings for the first time this season, appearing at No. 24 in the latest United Soccer Coaches national poll.
The Mavs will enjoy two home matches to open the conference slate, taking on Regis for the second time in as many weeks on Thursday at 7 p.m. before facing South Dakota Mines at 2:30 p.m. on Sunday. The Sunday match will be the second half of a Maverick soccer doubleheader and will immediately follow the No. 5-ranked CMU women's team playing at 11 a.m.
Looking Back
Colorado Mesa extended its unbeaten streak to five matches and banked two wins against a pair of teams that they'll see again later this season, defeating Regis 3-1 and Colorado Christian 2-0.
RECAPS:
Regis |
Colorado Christian
Manuel Ponce Casas and
Fernando Morales both found the net in each game while
Alec Fronapfel also scored against Regis on Friday.
Diego Chavez made eight saves across both matches to earn his second consecutive RMAC Goalkeeper of the Week award.
Back to Back
Chavez was named as the RMAC Goalkeeper of the Week for the second straight week with a pair of sparkling performances in net.
Player of the Week Release
Chavez made six saves in the win over Regis and recorded a shutout against CCU. He only needed to make two stops against the Cougars, but both were highlight-reel quality.
Chavez leads the RMAC and ranks tied for sixth in Division II with 43 saves. He has allowed only seven goals in eight matches so far in 2023, good for a 0.87 goals-against average in 720 minutes played. The redshirt sophomore has two shutouts and 21 saves in his last three appearances, dating back to a 13-save clean sheet against Simon Fraser that won him the award last week.
Chavez and UCCS's Soren Russell have split the season's first four Goalkeeper of the Week awards.
Three-Headed Monster
Colorado Mesa has scored 14 goals through eight matches this season, a team total that ranks fourth in the RMAC behind CSU Pueblo (19), MSU Denver (19) and Fort Lewis (18). The Mavs recorded one of their 14 tallies on an own goal, but out of the 13 that the Mavs have put in the net themselves, 10 have been scored by just three players.
Fernando Morales (four goals),
Manuel Ponce Casas (three) and
Alec Fronapfel (three) have been CMU's undisputed offensive leaders so far this season. The three forwards combined for all five goals that the Mavericks scored in last week's two wins. Morales ranks fifth in the RMAC with four goals and Ponce Casas and Fronapfel are part of a large group tied for sixth at three, but Colorado Mesa is the only RMAC team with three players in the league's top 10.
Even more impressive about Morales' goalscoring is that the redshirt junior has had to miss two games, so his 0.67 goals per game pace is the fourth highest in the RMAC at the moment.
In addition to ranking in the RMAC's top 10 with three goals so far, Ponce Casas is second in the conference with four assists and tied for second with two game-winning goals.
Second-Half Team
A big factor in CMU's unbeaten streak has been their proficiency at scoring second-half goals. The Mavericks have consistently outscored opponents in the second half to either come from behind or extend an existing lead.
Of Colorado Mesa's 14 total goals this season, 10 have come after halftime. The Mavericks have been either trailing or tied at halftime in three of the past four matches but are 3-0-1 in those games.
During the Mavericks' last five games, which have included four wins and a tie, CMU is only outscoring opponents 2-1 in the first 45 minutes. But in the second half during that span, the Mavs have scored nine goals while conceding just two.
In the Polls
Colorado Mesa is No. 24 in the latest United Soccer Coaches national poll. It marks the first time in 2023 that CMU has been ranked, and the second time that the Mavs have been mentioned in the poll after receiving votes last week.
Colorado Mesa also moved up one spot to fourth in the USC South Central regional rankings. Among regional teams (RMAC/Lone Star), the Mavericks trail Midwestern State (national No. 4), CSU Pueblo (national No. 7), and St. Mary's (national No. 18). RMAC school UCCS is among those receiving votes just outside the top 25.
Colorado Mesa was picked to finish fourth in the preseason Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Coaches Poll, garnering 64 total points.
CSU Pueblo finished atop the poll with 97 points and seven of 11 first-place votes. Colorado School of Mines received 86 points and two first-place votes after winning the RMAC regular season and tournament titles last year, with UCCS just behind with 83 points and one first-place vote. Regis garnered the final first-place vote, but still finished just behind the Mavericks in fifth with 62 total points.
About Regis
Regis is 2-5-1 and has not played since losing to the Mavericks 3-1 on their home field back on September 22. The Rangers were picked fifth in the RMAC preseason poll, one spot behind CMU.
The Rangers have already faced three ranked opponents this season, all from the CCAA. Regis has lost to No. 2 Cal State LA and No. 14 Cal Poly Pomona and earned a 2-2 tie with No. 21 Cal State San Bernardino (ranked No. 9 at the time of meeting). In addition to their loss to CMU last week, the Rangers lost to Colorado Christian, who CMU beat 2-0 on Sunday.
Offensively, the Rangers are led by junior New Zealander Rayhan Carlson-Du Toit, who led the team with 13 goals last season and earned first team All-RMAC and All-South Central Region recognition. Carlson-Du Toit is one of three players with a team-high two goals so far in 2023 alongside graduate midfielders Michael Jimenez and Ben Shephard. Senior defender Kyle Bergmeier found the net against the Mavs for his only goal of the season to date.
The Rangers have split between two goalkeepers, giving 433 minutes to junior Greg Squire and 286 minutes to sophomore Cristian Sattin. Both keepers have 21 saves apiece, with Squire allowing eight goals for a 1.66 goals-against average and Sattin allowing seven for a 2.20 goals-against average. Sattin played all 90 minutes against CMU, the third time he has done so this season, and tied a season and career high with nine saves while allowing three goals.
Taylor Diem, a former All-American and RMAC Defensive Player of the Year with Regis, is in his third season as the Rangers' head coach after spending three seasons as an assistant coach. Before returning to his alma mater, Diem was also an assistant coach at Johnson & Wales.
The Mavericks lead Regis 15-11-3 in the all-time series. Including last week's win, the Mavericks have won five of the past six against Regis, with a Rangers win last season being the exception. Regis and Colorado Mesa have had memorable postseason battles in recent memory, with the Mavericks defeating the Rangers in the RMAC Tournament Championship in 2016 and the semifinals on their way to another tournament crown in 2021.
About South Dakota Mines
South Dakota Mines was picked 11
th and last in the RMAC Preseason Poll ahead of the 2023 season. They have already done something that they failed to do in 2022, however – beat an RMAC opponent.
The Hardrockers are coming off a 2-1 win over Adams State in a nonconference matchup last Sunday, which moved their overall record to 2-6. Coupled with a 1-0 win over Eastern New Mexico (who CMU defeated 4-1) on September 16, the Hardrockers have more wins in their past three matches than in all of 2022, when they were 1-14-3 with an 0-9-1 RMAC record. Aside from the Eastern New Mexico win, South Dakota Mines has had three games against common opponents with CMU so far. The Hardrockers have lost 3-0 and 2-1 to MSU Billings and 2-1 to Texas A&M International.
South Dakota Mines has had six goals scored this season by six different players. Senior Hayden Jaramillo, freshman Will Mauritsen and freshman Parker Yocom lead the team with one goal and one assist apiece. Jaramillo is the runaway shots leader on the team with 18 and is the only Hardrocker in double-digits.
Daniel Freitas has been SDM's primary goalkeeper and led the RMAC in both saves and goals conceded in 2022. He has made 20 saves while allowing 11 goals in 417 minutes played in 2023. Junior Kole Villescas played all 90 minutes in each of the past two matches for South Dakota Mines and has nine saves against seven goals conceded in 302 minutes played.
Interim Head Coach Bill Schaefer was elevated from an assistant soccer coach role on August 6, 2023. He had been an assistant coach at South Dakota Mines since March 2022. He also works as a director with a local club team.
The Mavericks have never lost to the Hardrockers, compiling an 11-0-1 all-time record against them. South Dakota Mines has not scored a goal against Colorado Mesa since 2018 and has been outscored 18-0 in four head-to-head matches since then. The Mavs won 6-0 in South Dakota last season behind two goals from
Daisuke Takanaka and goals from current Mavs
Alec Fronapfel and
Matheus Lazzuri.
Coach's Corner
Mavericks head coach
Jon Fridal begins his fourth season at Colorado Mesa in 2023. He has already earned conference and regional coaching honors and taken the Mavericks to national success.
In his first year, played in spring 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Mavs went 6-1-1, including 5-0-1 in conference play, as Fridal took home RMAC Coach of the Year honors, becoming the second coach in the history of the program to do so.
In his first full campaign in the fall of 2021, Fridal led the Mavericks to a 16-4-2 record, a second-place RMAC regular-season finish, an RMAC Tournament title and a win in the NCAA Tournament. That led to a top-10 national preseason ranking for the team entering the 2022 season.
Along with assistant coach
Brandon Bautista, Fridal was honored as the United Soccer Coaches South Central Regional Staff of the Year in 2021.
