DENVER, Colo. – Falling short after a three-goal second half proved to be too much offense for the Mavericks to handle, the No. 6 seed Colorado Mesa University Men's Soccer Team was defeated 3-1 this afternoon as they fell in the quarterfinals round of the RMAC Men's Soccer Championship to No. 3 seed Regis University at Regis Match Pitch.
Being outside of the top-10 rankings for a potential spot into the NCAA Regionals, the Mavs now conclude their season with the loss as they end the year with an 8-7-3 (5-3-2 RMAC) record.
This season they finished with three more wins than last year while qualifying for the postseason after missing out in 2024. In addition, they also concluded the regular season as a top-10 offense in the nation with a 2.47 goals per game average.
The Rangers move on to play No. 2 seed of the tournament in MSU Denver now with that game slated for Wednesday evening.
Jumping out to an early lead, the Mavs struck first in today's contest as they scored just nine minutes in.
After pushing downfield on a fast break opportunity, Nathan Hernadez was able to score for Colorado Mesa with him chipping in a ball in from close range after a well-executed pass from Stefanos Christodoulakis found him in the penalty area.
Hernandez finishes the year at eight goals for second best on the team. Christodoulakis earned the assist as well which made this his second straight game to record at least one point.
The early goal was all the offense that was mustered in the first half by both teams, with defense leading the way in large part. There were only a combined 15 shots taken in the first half with the Mavs narrowly leading that category at 8-7.
The Rangers had five of their shots be on goal, but all were saved by Nathan Beck, who got his second straight start in the net.
The Mavs continued to lead into the second half before the game was evened up in the 59th minute with a short pass and kick from less than 10 yards out leading to Blaise Richard scoring for the Rangers and making it all square again.
Colorado Mesa challenged with a penalty kick opportunity in the 63rd minute, but a spectacular save by the Rangers' goalkeeper kept the Mavs from scoring again.
Building off that momentum, Regis then scored in the 65th minute with a long pass towards the box being headed in by Elias Taubo.
Trailing 2-1, the Mavs endured more struggles to follow with a red card in 69th minute leading to them playing a man down. A second red card would also be issued in the 80th minute with the Mavs ending the game playing 9 v 11.
The Rangers added a final goal in the 76th minute by Johan Murillo, with Jason Robles having the assist. Robles assisted on all three goals by the Rangers in the game.
Coming into this game the Rangers had outscored opponents 15-2 over their last four matches with them owning two shutouts in that stretch.
In the end, Regis outshot the Mavs 17-12 with 11 of their shots being on goal. Corner kicks were even at three apiece, while Colorado Mesa had eight saves in the net compared to the Rangers' four.
The Mavs will now head into the offseason with All-RMAC and Academic selections to be released in the coming weeks.
