AUGUSTINE, Fla. – Colorado Mesa men's lacrosse hung on to a five-goal lead, picking up a much-needed 12-11 win over Flagler to end the Mavs' three-game Florida road trip.
JJ Brummett and
Hunter Holcomb each recorded hat tricks for the Mavericks, who improve to 4-3 with the victory and snap a two-game losing streak.
Alex Blatt and
Logan Smith scored two goals apiece while
Dillon Pless and
Levi McCoy had one goal each.
Flagler mounted a serious comeback attempt, scoring four of the last five and six of the last eight goals of the match. The host Saints also jumped out to 2-0, 3-2 and 4-3 leads in the first half.
The key stretch of game time game between 12:00 left in the second quarter and 8:00 left in the third quarter, when the Mavericks ripped off five unanswered goals. Blatt scored to tie the game at 4-4 before Holcomb, Brummett and Blatt all scored to send CMU to halftime ahead by three.
Logan Smith ended the run with an unassisted goal to put CMU up 8-4 with 10:37 to play in the third.
After a Flagler goal,
Levi McCoy and
Hunter Holcomb tallied unassisted goals to give CMU its largest lead of the game at 10-5. Flagler cut the lead down to 12-11 with 1:45 to play and gained an extra-man opportunity after a CMU body-checking penalty, but the Mavericks successfully defended their net in the final minute.
Colorado Mesa had a narrow 41-40 shots advantage, while Flagler won 15 out of 27 faceoffs and grabbed 20 ground balls to CMU's 18.
Luke Parrish played the entire 60 minutes in net, making 10 saves against 11 goals conceded. Flagler goalie Nate Lehr made 14 saves to keep the Saints in the game.
After playing their first seven games of the season away from home, the Mavericks will play a game in Grand Junction for the first time this Sunday against RMAC rivals Westminster. The Griffins, who are ranked No. 20 in the country, are 5-1 this season with a loss to Tampa and wins over Concordia Irvine, Dominican, Florida Tech and Maryville. The Mavs and Griffins will play at 2 p.m. on Sunday, the second half of a lacrosse doubleheader after the women's home opener at 10 a.m. Sunday morning
