Grand Junction, Colo. - In the final match of the Colorado Mesa University Men's Soccer Team's season, the Mavericks would come up short to end the year as they would suffer a 3-0 loss to the Griffins of Westminster University on Community Hospital Unity Field.
The Mavs would conclude the season after tonight's game as they missed out on the RMAC Men's Soccer Championship this season by not finishing in the top six of the conference standings.
They finish the year with an overall record of 5-10-2 while going 2-7-1 in RMAC play. They would end in ninth in the conference standings. Their most recent win this season would come against Adams State University on Nov. 1, when they defeated the Grizzlies 5-0.
Westminster University finishes their season also after tonight's game as they did not qualify for the postseason either. They finished with a 6-7-5 record while going 2-5-3 in RMAC play to tie for seventh place in the conference standings.
In the match, Westminster would have three different players score goals with all three of them coming in the second half.
Both teams would play to a 0-0 tie in the first 45 minutes as defense was dominant, but the Griffins would break the stalemate in the second half.
Westminster would score first in the 55th minute when a couple of crossing passes towards the net would end up in front of Aiden Chrascina, who knocked the ball in from close range to the left side of the net. He would be assisted by Landon Ward and Jack Cardwell on his score.
The Griffins would score again less than 10 minutes later when they added to their lead in the 64th minute. Ben Deontae would be the scorer this time as he launched a shot from near midfield that hammered the top post of the goal before bouncing down and into the net for the 2-0 lead.
Landon Ward would score the final goal for the Griffins in the 84th minute when he would receive a pass from Ben Klump which he shot into the bottom left corner of the net. Klump would receive the assist on the goal as the match would remain at 3-0 for the final six minutes.
CMU would give their best challenge of the day in the 76th minute when they would take three consecutive shots, all within the penalty area, but stellar play by the Griffins goalkeeper would keep the Mavs off the board as he saved all three of the shots.
The Mavs would be outshot in the match as they only attempted six shots in comparison to the Griffins 15. The Griffins would also be awarded eight corner kicks on the night compared to the Mavs' three.
Matteo Bonelli would be the team's shot leader as he took two in the game with both being on goal.
Tonight's loss was only the Mavs' sixth time this season being shutout in their 17 games. They recorded four shutouts themselves.
Diego Chavez recorded six saves in the game to bring his season total to 90. This is the most he has had in any season in his career at CMU. Those 90 saves are also marked as the highest amount by any goalkeeper in the conference.
The Mavs will now head into their offseason before finding the pitch again this Spring. Information can be found in the following months at cmumavericks.com.
