TAMPA, Fla. – No. 15 Colorado Mesa hung tough with No. 4 Tampa for three quarters, but the Spartans outscored the Mavericks 8-2 in the final 20 minutes as Tampa pulled out a 17-12 men's lacrosse victory on Saturday evening.

The loss drops the Mavs' record to 3-2 and marks the third consecutive season that the Mavs have lost to Tampa. Colorado Mesa remains in Florida into next week, taking on No. 17 Florida Southern and Flagler this upcoming Tuesday and Thursday.

Determined to avenge last season's loss and get a signature road win, Colorado Mesa jumped on the Spartans early, scoring the first five goals of the game. JJ Brummett opened the scoring with two-and-a-half minutes gone of game time, and by the time two-and-a-half more minutes had gone off the clock, Hunter Holcomb scored twice along with goals from Braden Lowe and Caleb Schreiber to give CMU a 5-0 lead with 10:05 still remaining in the first quarter.

Tampa, the 2022 national champions, showed its experience and pedigree by battling back immediately. Spartans attacker Canyon Birch scored four straight goals of his own to trim the Maverick lead to one by the end of the first quarter. The Spartans then scored three straight goals from 12:33 to 9:20 of the second quarter to take a 7-6 lead over the Mavs.

JJ Brummett scored with five minutes left in the first half to tie the score at seven heading into halftime. Brummett completed his hat trick with 5:20 remaining in the third quarter which put CMU up by a goal, 10-9. Brummett would also score CMU's final two goals to finish with five on the day, but Tampa kicked it up a notch over the second half of the game, taking the lead and pulling away for the win.

Brummett's five goals led the way for the Mavs, while Hunter Holcomb had a four-point night with two goals and two assists. Caleb Schreiber also scored twice.

Tampa outshot Colorado Mesa 58-23. Mac Bayless made 12 saves in the cage for the Mavericks. Colorado Mesa had a 19-14 faceoff edge but had six fewer ground balls than the Spartans (37-31).