Box Score GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. – Lightning delayed the start time of the RMAC Men's Lacrosse Tournament semifinal between top-seeded Colorado Mesa and No. 4 seed Adams State, but there was plenty of thunder still to come as the Mavericks turned in a complete performance in a 22-2 win over the Grizzlies at Community Hospital Unity Field on Friday night.

James Steinke tallied four goals to lead a pack of 17 different Maverick goal scorers while Hunter Holcomb racked up six assists to break the CMU program single-game record.

With the win, Colorado Mesa punches its ticket to the RMAC Tournament title game, due to take place on Saturday night at 5 p.m. in Grand Junction. In advancing to the tournament final for the eighth consecutive time, the Mavericks maintained streaks of reaching every RMAC Tournament final in the history of the conference and winning at least one game in every RMAC tourney.

In the championship, CMU will face an unfamiliar foe – at least as far as the RMAC championship is concerned – in Concordia University Irvine. The third-seeded Golden Eagles pulled off a seismic shocker over Westminster, the RMAC's No. 2 seed and the No. 15 ranked team in the nation, in Friday night's first semifinal.

CUI jumped all over the Griffins, leading 11-1 at halftime and surviving a late Westminster charge to win 15-8. With that victory, CUI earned a win in its first RMAC Tournament game ever and becomes the first RMAC men's lacrosse team other than Colorado Mesa and Westminster to ever make the tournament title game.

Colorado Mesa ensured there would be no such drama for the higher-seeded team in the second semi. The Mavericks scored the first 13 goals of the game, leading 9-0 after the first quarter and 14-1 at the half, and wasted no time scoring at will on RMAC Goalie of the Year Ryan Berger, who was pulled at halftime.

The Mavericks were dominant, going 25-2 in the faceoff circle, led by a 13-for-14 performance with 12 ground balls from Dylan Checketts. The Mavs outshot ASU 56-13 and nearly tripled up the Grizzlies in ground balls, scooping 59 to ASU's 20. CMU forced 22 Adams State turnovers, limiting the Grizzlies to just 10-for-20 on clear attempts.

Maverick goalies Luke Parrish, who played the first half, and Mac Bayless, who played the second half, didn't have much to do. Parrish made one save against one goal conceded in two quarters while Bayless made two saves against one goal allowed. Adams State's cage minders were busier. Berger made six first half saves while allowing 14 goals before freshman Jamisen Blackwell stepped in for the second half and made seven saves against eight goals allowed.

With six assists in the semifinal win, Hunter Holcomb leads the RMAC with 35. Holcomb now possesses CMU's single-game and career assist records and is just one assist away from the program's single-season record of 36 set last season by alum AJ Switzer. The senior was unstoppable early, with five of his assists coming in the first half and four coming in the first quarter.

Steinke also had an excellent first quarter, with the senior registering a hat trick in the game's opening period. The Mavericks punctuated the first quarter with two goals in the final eight seconds, both assisted by Holcomb. After Logan Smith found the net to make it 8-0, the Mavs quickly won the draw.

Philip Petersen made a terrific one-handed snag over his right shoulder and behind his head with the stick pocket, and in one fluid motion, whipped it around for a practically underhanded shot across his body to beat both Berger and the buzzer. The referees needed to have an extended discussion during the quarter break to determine if Petersen's goal would count or if time expired, but the goal was granted.

Adams State got on the board via Caden D'Lallo with 3:04 to play in the first half, but the Mavericks answered with an unassisted goal from Eli Bibler to make it a 14-1 CMU advantage heading into halftime. The Grizzlies struck first out of the break, with ASU's leading points scorer Matthew Lash finding the net.

That would be it for the Grizzlies offensively, as the Mavericks shut down every facet of ASU's attack while killing clock in possession and still managing to end several of their trips with a goal while being denied of several more by Blackwell. The Mavericks played primarily underclassmen for the final quarter-and-a-half, but not before Holcomb got his record-breaking sixth assist of the day by setting up James Steinke's fourth goal with 7:45 left in the third quarter to make it 16-2.

Three Mavs scored their first career goals late. True freshman Dax Lambright found the net for the first time as a collegiate athlete with 11:30 left in the third while redshirt freshman Ryan Pless scored his first goal with 7:37 left, on a play that faceoff man Kanyan Rhodes created out of thin air with a clean draw win and a thread-the-needle pass to the cutting long stick of Pless. The loudest ovation of the night came with the first career goal for Return Meigs, who missed nearly two years with injury before appearing in five games late in the 2024 season for the Mavericks.

The Mavericks are now 11-4 this season. In their only two previous matchups with CUI, both of which have come this season, the Mavericks won by double digits, but in very different ways. In Irvine on February 25, the Golden Eagles were playing in just their third Division II varsity game and the Mavs jumped on them early, leading 10-3 at the half and 15-4 after three quarters.

On the return trip to Grand Junction on April 5, CUI kept it close for 30 minutes, trailing by only one goal at halftime, 5-4. However, the Mavericks turned it on in the second half, outscoring the Golden Eagles 12-0 after halftime to win 17-4.

Friday's pregame festivities featured CMU midfielder Caleb Schreiber receive the RMAC Summit Award as the student-athlete with the highest GPA at each sport's championship finals site. This is the third consecutive year that the CMU program has won the men's lacrosse Summit Award.