ROMEOVILLE, Ill. – Micah Payton scored his first career hat trick and
Mac Bayless made six saves in relief in the cage, but it wasn't enough for No. 15 Colorado Mesa men's lacrosse to come from behind against No. 16 Maryville, as the Saints defeated the Mavericks 12-8 on Friday.
The loss drops Colorado Mesa to 2-1 on the season. The eight goals scored by CMU mark the first time that the Mavericks have been held to single digits offensively in head coach
Troy Moyer's tenure and first time overall since an 8-4 win over Quincy on April 14, 2022.
Maryville, which improved to 5-1 with the victory, led 7-3 at halftime and led 10-3 with seven minutes remaining in the third quarter, a seven-goal cushion that proved too much to overcome despite the Mavericks scoring five of the match's last seven goals. The Saints received five goals from Ben Mickett and four goals from Justin Simonson in the victory.
Payton's hat trick boosted him up to second in points for the Mavericks in the 2024 season, as the senior midfielder now has five goals and eight assists this year. In addition to Payton's three scores, five CMU players scored a single goal –
Dillon Pless,
Braden Lowe,
Ethan Points,
Deuce Kirschke and
JJ Brummett, who added one goal to bring his team and RMAC-leading total to 14.
Colorado Mesa outshot Maryville 43-33, including 19-6 in the first quarter, but couldn't convert those chances into goals. Maryville goalie Dylan Radke made 12 saves in the cage for the Saints while Colorado Mesa's
Luke Parrish didn't make a save until the middle of the third quarter. Parrish was pulled soon after for
Mac Bayless with the Mavs down 10-3, and Bayless studied the ship, making six saves against two goals allowed the rest of the way.
CMU was also better in ground balls (28-26), faceoffs (12-10), clears (14-16 vs. 15-23) and had fewer turnovers (16-19), but Maryville held the edge in the most important stat of all – the scoreboard.
Colorado Mesa will stay in Illinois over the weekend to play Lewis on Sunday. Lewis hosted today's neutral site game against Maryville. The Flyers are receiving votes in the USILA poll at 5-1, with their only loss coming to Maryville by a 13-5 margin in the season opener.
