GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. – Colorado Mesa made the first move in the RMAC title race, hanging on for a huge overtime victory over Westminster in a battle of the conference's two nationally ranked programs. Now, Colorado Mesa will host two more RMAC games this weekend and seek to maintain their edge in the conference standings.

The Mavericks are scheduled to face CSU Pueblo on March 28 at 7 p.m. and Adams State on March 30 at 11 a.m. Both games will be played at Community Hospital Unity Field in Grand Junction, CMU's second and third home games of the season.  

Looking Back
The Mavs suffered two consecutive losses to nationally ranked teams, falling 17-12 to No. 4 Tampa and 13-12 to No. 17 Florida Southern. The Mavericks were then on the right side of a pair of one-goal games, defeating Flagler 12-11 and RMAC rivals Westminster 13-12 in overtime.

RECAPS: Tampa | Florida Southern | Flagler | Westminster

Dillon Pless provided the signature moment of the season so far with his overtime game-winning goal against Westminster. That result put CMU in first place in the RMAC standings at 2-0 and improved the Mavs' record to 5-3 overall. The Mavericks will enter this weekend's games on a two-game winning streak and have now won 12 straight games against RMAC opponents.

Florida Man
JJ Brummett scored hat tricks or better in all three games of the Florida trip, recording five goals against Tampa, four goals against Florida Southern and three against Flagler.

Brummett has scored at least one goal in all eight of CMU's games and has scored three or more goals in five games. The sophomore has 28 goals in eight games this season, already more than his career high of 25 goals set in 2023.

JJ Brummett no doubt has his sights set on his older brother Jed Brummett's CMU single-season goalscoring record, which Jed set last year with 63 goals in 18 games. At 3.5 goals per game, JJ Brummett is currently on the exact same goalscoring pace as Jed Brummett last season.

Double H
Senior attacker Hunter Holcomb is currently tied for the team points lead with Brummett. Holcomb has 17 goals and 13 assists for 30 points, while Brummett has 28 goals and two assists.

Holcomb, the RMAC Attacker of the Year in 2021 and Co-Attacker of the Year in 2022, is just 10 points away from his career-high of 40 points in 2022 and three away from his career-high of 20 goals, set last season. Holcomb has been impossible for goalies to stop this season, scoring 17 times on just 21 shots on goal.

Holcomb scored three goals for a hat trick against Flagler and led the team with four goals and six points in last Sunday's win over Westminster. He has taken six shots each of CMU's last two games. Holcomb has scored points in all eight Maverick games this season, with goals in seven out of eight, and has recorded three points or more in four consecutive games and six games total.

Ain't Over Till It's Over
Colorado Mesa played two one-goal games last season, suffering a 12-11 road loss to Belmont Abbey on February 25 and defeating Westminster 14-13 on the road in Salt Lake City on April 23. The Mavericks have already surpassed last season's total with each of CMU's last three games having a one-goal margin.

All three of those games featured the trailing game making a valiant comeback attempt that fell just short. The Mavericks nearly came from behind to beat Florida Southern, rallying from an 11-6 deficit to tie the score at 12-12 before Florida Southern's Caiden Weich struck with the game-winning goal with 2:14 to play.

Colorado Mesa had to stave off comeback attempts in each of its two most recent wins. Against Flagler, the Mavs led 10-5 but watched the host Saints pull within one and win an extra-man opportunity in the final minute that would have tied the game if it was converted. Flagler was unable to score, and CMU survived with a 12-11 victory. Against Westminster, the Mavericks led 10-8 with 20 minutes remaining in the game, but the Griffins battled back to tie the score twice at 11-11 and 12-12 before Pless's overtime winner.

In the Polls
Colorado Mesa checks in at No. 17 in the USILA national poll. The Mavericks are 1-3 against teams in the poll, suffering losses to No. 3 Tampa, No. 14 Florida Southern and No. 16 Maryville while beating No. 19 Westminster. The Griffins are the only other ranked RMAC team in the poll. The Mavericks have wins over two teams (Lewis and Flagler) currently ranked outside the top 20 but receiving votes.

Colorado Mesa was picked to finish first in the RMAC in a poll of the league's five head coaches. The Mavericks received three first-place votes and one second-place vote from the conference's other schools (head coaches rank other programs without voting for their own) and finished with 15 points in the poll.

Longtime rival Westminster received two first-place votes and two second-place votes from the other RMAC schools and finished second in the poll with 14 points. RMAC newcomer Concordia University Irvine, in its first year as a Division II varsity program but straight off winning a club lacrosse national championship, finished third in the poll with nine points while Adams State (seven points) and CSU Pueblo (five) rounded things out.

About CSU Pueblo
The ThunderWolves of CSU Pueblo are 0-7 this season and 0-2 in RMAC play. The Pack have announced that the 2024 season will be CSUP's last as a varsity program.

CSU Pueblo has RMAC losses to Concordia Irvine (20-8) and Adams State (15-11) so far this season while also dropping games to Dominican, Rockhurst, Colorado College, William Jewell and Quincy. The ThunderWolves have scored in double digits twice this season, against Adams State and Dominican (also a 15-11 loss). Aside from those two games and a narrow 10-9 loss to William Jewell, CSUP's other four losses have come by 11 goals or more.

Sophomore Andrew Dzubak has been the offensive star for the ThunderWolves with 15 goals and 12 assists this season. Highlights for Dzubak include a four-goal game against Rockhurst, a six-point game with two goals and four assists against Adams State and a hat trick against CUI. Lane Lessley is CSUP's other double-digit scorer with 11 goals and four assists through seven games. Midfielder CJ Rowe has 21 ground balls for the Pack while defender Tanner Barnard leads with 11 caused turnovers.

Colorado Mesa is a perfect 19-0 all-time against CSU Pueblo, with the margin of victory being fewer than 10 goals just three times among those matchups. Last season, the Mavericks defeated the ThunderWolves 22-5 in Pueblo and 22-3 at home. CSUP head coach Sean Blair has been with the program since its inception in 2013.

About Adams State
The Adams State Grizzlies are 1-5 this season. The Grizzlies are 1-1 in RMAC play after picking up their lone win at home vs. CSU Pueblo, 15-11. ASU has suffered losses to Dominican, Rockhurst, William Jewell, Quincy and Concordia Irvine, with all five of those losses coming by 10 goals or more and three losses coming by 15 goals or more.

Junior midfielder Matthew Lash, an Aurora, Colorado native, leads the Grizzly attack with 10 goals and six assists through ASU's six games. Lash scored a hat trick in the win over CSU Pueblo and had four goals against Quincy. Junior Kris Owens also had a hat trick against Pueblo and has seven goals for the season while senior Tyler Hubbard has chipped in six.

Defender Logan Brewer has a team-high 13 caused turnovers and scooped up a season-high seven ground balls in Adams State's most recent game against Concordia Irvine. Sophomore goalie Ryan Berger, who made five starts as a true freshman for the Grizzlies last season, has started all six games of 2024 so far and has an 18.82 goals-against average with a .456 save percentage.

Colorado Mesa is 29-0 against Adams State all-time. The Mavericks and Grizzlies played three times last season, with CMU winning 22-3 in Alamosa and 27-4 in Grand Junction before defeating Adams 23-3 in the semifinals of last year's RMAC Tournament, played at Community Hospital Unity Field. Head coach Jerome Austin has been with Adams State since 2019.

Coach's Corner
Troy Moyer is back for his second season as the head men's lacrosse coach at Colorado Mesa University. Moyer previously was as an assistant coach for CMU from 2019-2022.

In his debut season, Moyer went 16-2, including a perfect 6-0 record in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference. The Mavericks won the RMAC regular season title outright for the fifth time in the last eight seasons and also took home the RMAC Tournament title for the fifth time in program history.

Colorado Mesa won two regular season RMAC crowns and one RMAC Tournament Championship during Moyer's time as an assistant coach. After former Mavs coach Vince Smith resigned to pursue opportunities outside college lacrosse, Moyer was named interim head coach in July 2023, and was hired as the permanent head coach in September 2023. Moyer retained every player on the CMU roster through the coaching transition.

Prior to Colorado Mesa, Moyer coached at Division III Muhlenberg College in Allentown, Pennsylvania, his home state. He played Division I Lacrosse at Sacred Heart University.