GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. – It took overtime heroics, but Colorado Mesa men's lacrosse won its third consecutive RMAC Tournament, defeating No. 4 seed Adams State and No. 3 Concordia University Irvine along the way. With a conference championship secured, the Mavericks have one final regular season game this weekend as they wait for the results of the NCAA selection show this weekend.

The Mavericks will take on Division III lacrosse power and in-state competitor Colorado College on Saturday at noon from Community Hospital Unity Field. It will be the final home game of the 2024 season for Colorado Mesa.

Looking Back
Colorado Mesa secured an RMAC Tournament win, defeating Adams State 22-2 in the semifinal and emerging with a narrow 13-12 overtime win over No. 3 seed CUI, which had upset co-RMAC regular season champions Westminster in the semifinal round.

RECAPS: Adams State | CUI

The Mavericks survived a valiant comeback attempt from the upstart Golden Eagles, who were playing in their first-ever RMAC Tournament. CMU took a 7-2 lead into halftime, but the Golden Eagles forced OT by outscoring the Mavs 4-2 in the third quarter and 6-3 in the fourth quarter.

M-V-P
James Steinke earned RMAC Tournament honors after putting together two unforgettable performances. Steinke scored a game-high four goals in the semifinal win over Adams State before adding a hat trick in the final, including the overtime game-winner.

Steinke joins an exclusive list of RMAC Tournament MVPs in Colorado Mesa program history and garnered his third consecutive All-Tournament team selection. Steinke appeared on the team when Carson Schwark won MVP in 2022 and Jed Brummett won it last year. The other RMAC Tournament MVPs in program history are Steve Brandenburg in 2016, Michael Marino in 2017 and Remi Reeves in 2018. Marino was on the other sideline for this year's final as an assistant coach for CUI.

The redshirt senior was joined on the 2024 All-Tournament Team by teammates JJ Brummett, Dylan Checketts, Riley Fisher and Hunter Holcomb.

Postseason Scenarios
The Mavericks are kings of the RMAC for the third straight year, but they are on the outside looking in for the NCAA Tournament according to the NCAA's regional rankings.

Colorado Mesa was not listed among the eight teams under consideration for the six South Region tournament spots. The teams listed by the NCAA, in seed order, are Tampa, Lenoir-Rhyne, Limestone, UIndy, Wingate, Maryville, Rollins and Newberry. The Mavericks are 0-2 against this group with losses to Tampa and Maryville this season.

That situation means the Mavs need to jump three teams at minimum to make the tournament, with only one game against a Division III school left on the schedule to boost CMU's resume. The Mavericks have a 12-4 record but are just 1-3 against ranked opposition (beating No. 18 Lewis and losing to No. 2 Tampa, No. 12 Maryville and No. 20 Florida Southern).

Record Watch
With Saturday's matchup set to be CMU's last game of the season pending a selection to the NCAA Tournament, Saturday's game may be the last chance for Maverick players to make a run at the program's single-season leaderboards.

Hunter Holcomb will enter the game against CC tied with former teammate AJ Switzer for the single-season assist record with 36 assists. One more assist for Holcomb would give him the assist trifecta in program history – the single-game record (six in the RMAC Tournament semifinal), career record (set earlier this year) and the single-season record.

JJ Brummett also has a chance at some single-season records, though it would take a legendary performance from the junior. With 53 goals this season, JJ Brummett is 10 goals behind his brother Jed for the single-season program record of 63 that Jed set last season in 2023. JJ is five goals away from second place on that list, a mark of 58 set by Steve Brandenburg in 2017.

Brummett is nine shots on goal shy of the single-season record for that statistic. Brummett currently has 97 shots on goal this season and is second on the all-time list, trailing Brandenburg's record of 106 from 2017. Brummett has attempted 159 total shots this season, six behind Jack Griffin's 2019 total for the second most in a single season and 22 shy of Brandenburg from 2017.

Trey Corkin III enters Saturday with 28 caused turnovers, which leads the RMAC and is tied for the third-most in a single season by a Maverick with Johnny Nitti's 28 in 2011. With three caused turnovers Saturday, Corkin III can move into second place and pass Ryder Clark's 2017 total of 30. The all-time record is 44 by alum Brady George.

About Colorado College
Colorado College has an 8-5 record as an independent Division III school. The Tigers were on a three-game winning streak prior to Sunday, April 21, when they lost to No. 9 (DIII) Christopher Newport in their most recent outing. CC has advanced to three consecutive Division III national tournaments, going on a run to the third round in 2021.

The Tigers have scored 209 goals this season while allowing 144. CC has scored on 36 percent of their shot attempts while opponents have only scored in 26.5 percent of their shots. Colorado College has also won 54.5 percent of their faceoffs this season, with an 86 percent clear percentage.
Colorado College has relied on underclassmen in attack. The Tigers have a pair of 30-goal scorers in sophomore Thomas Power (36 goals, 53 points) and freshman Matt Hudson (35 goals), while another sophomore, Braydon Ellis, has 23 goals this season.

The Mavericks have a 5-2 all-time record against Colorado College. The Mavs and Tigers split four meetings between 2011-2015 but didn't play between 2015 and 2021. This will be the fourth consecutive year that these two programs have matched up, with CMU winning 13-12 in overtime in 2021, 15-12 in 2022 and 15-9 last year.