Grand Junction, Colo. - Coming off their first win of conference play this season, the Colorado Mesa University Men's Soccer Team will be at home again this week as they get to host a pair of opponents in #5 UCCS and #25 CSU Pueblo on Thursday and Sunday at Community Hospital Unity Field.
In their most recent victory, the Mavs put up their second-best offensive performance of the year as they defeated Colorado Christian University 4-0 this last week.
This upcoming Sunday game against CSU Pueblo will be the Mavs' Senior Day and feature a pregame ceremony to honor the program's seven seniors.
Those seven seniors include Diego Chavez, Diogo Silva, Marc Bonafe, Matheus Lazzuri, Shane Bryan, Tallyn Bronson and honorary senior Eddie Cardenas.
Coming into this week, CMU holds a 4-6-2 record overall and are 1-3-1 in conference. Standing-wise they are in ninth place in the conference, but still have six games remaining in their schedule.
Despite some mid-season struggles this year they still have produced a top five offense in the RMAC as they have scored 21 goals in the conference for the fifth most. They have only given up 16 in contrast.
Marc Bonafe serves as the team leader in goals this season with four and has scored two of them in the last three games. Matteo Bonelli has three goals to be in second place on the team. In total there have been 14 different players who have scored this season for the Mavs with eight of them having one goal apiece.
17 assists have also been recorded this season and in addition to being the goal scoring leader, Bonafe is also the assist leader on the team with five. His five assists are sixth-best in the conference. The trio of Bonelli, Matheus Lazzuri and Kensho Negi all have two assists to be tied for second on the team.
The Mavs everyday goalkeeper, Diego Chavez, has held down the net this season and in doing so has totaled 65 saves himself to lead the conference. His average of 5.42 saves per game is also marked for best in the conference. He has recorded three shutouts this year in 12 matches.
THIS WEEK'S OPPONENTS
Both the women's and men's soccer teams will face the same opponents this week with the men's games following the conclusion of each women's match.
The Mavs will take on #5 UCCS first on Thursday this week for a 7 p.m. start before closing their weekend on Sunday against #25 CSUP at 3 p.m.
Thursday's game will be the second time the Mavs have faced off with the Mountain Lions this season as the last meeting ended in a 2-1 decision with UCCS just edging out the victory. That match was a non conference meeting.
The Mountain Lions have been a top-25 nationally ranked team this entire season and are sporting a 10-1-2 record coming into Thursday's match. In conference play they are 3-1-1 and most recently beat Adams State 5-0.
Their offense has scored 27 goals compared to the 10 they have given up. Conference leader Dani Barajas has scored eight goals this year for the Mountain Lions. Miles Seminario and Nick Walker have also contributed to this bolstering offense with Seminario having scored five goals and Walker with four.
Their goalkeeping crew only allows .77 goals per game and has allowed the fewest goals by any team in the RMAC this year.
Coming in on Sunday will be Colorado Mesa's final opponent who is also nationally ranked in #25 CSU Pueblo.
The Thunderwolves have competed with UCCS for the top spot in the conference most of this season as they are currently 9-3-1 and 4-1 in RMAC play. Their lone loss in conference comes from Fort Lewis College.
They have almost identical statistics as UCCS this year as they have scored 26 times while only giving up 11 goals. They have been offensively led in large part by Caio Oliveria who has six goals this season and a league-leading nine assists. Shjon Andrews and Tobi Osifodunrin have also been large factors with Andrews having five goals and Osifodunrin totaling four.
The Pack's goalkeeping unit has also been top of the conference this season as they only allow .85 goals per game.
Both games this week will be streamed on the RMAC Network with live stats available to follow. Tickets can be purchased online at cmumavericks.com/tickets.
