GRAND JUNCTION, Colo.— The Colorado Mesa University men's lacrosse team grabbed an early 4-0 lead and 6-2 halftime advantage before hanging on for a key 8-7 Peach Belt Conference Rocky Mountain Division win over the visiting Concordia University Irvine Golden Eagles on Friday afternoon here at the Mavericks' Community Hospital Unity Field.
 
The nation's 19^th-ranked Mavericks improved to 6-2 overall and to 3-0 in the division and won for the fifth straight time against the Golden Eagles (4-6, 3-2 PBC) in the rapidly developing rivalry.  CUI had come into the game as winners of three straight and were receiving a single vote in the latest USILA Division II Coaches' Poll.
 
CMU has now swept the regular season series with the Golden Eagles after opening the campaign with a 13-8 win over them on Feb. 15 in San Rafael, California. 
 
The Mavs also took down the Golden Eagles, 13-12 in overtime in last year's Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Tournament title game here and could face them again in the postseason next month as the two teams continue to sit first and second in the divisional standings ahead of 1-1 Westminster, a team CUI defeated 10-5 just nine days prior.
 
CMU and Westminster had faced each other in each of the first seven RMAC Tournament title games before CUI moved into the conference and the Division II ranks last year.
 
Friday's contest, CMU's home-opener, had a similar intensity as the 2024 title bout as the Mavs were able to break a scoreless deadlock just under ten minutes into the game, thanks to Ryan Garcia, who scored his first goal of the campaign.
 
That was the first of three goals in a span of just 4:01 late in the first quarter as Dillon Pless and Logan Smith went on to score unassisted tallies.  The Mavs then added a fourth just 26 seconds into the second quarter, thanks to Connor Jensen, who later added a man up goal at the 8:05 mark of the period to give CMU a 5-1 lead.
 
Pless, who joined Jensen and Smith in scoring two goals throughout the game, then put CMU up 6-2 just 21 seconds before the intermission.
 
The teams then traded blows less than a minute apart in the third before the Golden Eagles scored twice just 37 seconds apart to close the gap to 7-5 with 12:55 to go early in the fourth.
 
The second goal in that stretch was on an extra man opportunity after the Mavericks took a 2-minute non-releasable penalty, which the Mavs were able to kill without any further damage.
 
However, Concordia's Jeremy Barnes, later cut the gap to 7-6 with 8:31 to go with his second straight goal.
 
The Mavericks then received a key unassisted tally from Eli Bibler with 6:51 left to go up 8-6 before CUI's Brody MacDonald pulled the Golden Eagles back within a goal at the 5:50 mark.
 
The defenses then clamped down as both teams traded turnovers before CUI goalie Daniel Yang saved a JJ Brummet shot with 3:31 to go before CUI's Chad McFadden rattled the post with 3:12 to go.
 
CMU sophomore Shaden Shields, who made 13 saves to outduel Yang by one, then stopped a shot with 3:02 to go before a potential back-breaking shot by Smith sailed high with just under two minutes to go.
 
CUI then failed to clear on the ensuing possession as the Mavericks ran the clock down under a minute before Smith took shot at an empty net from just a few yards out.
 
However, Yang seemed to appear out of nowhere to make the save on Smith's effort from the doorstep as CUI was able to clear and call timeout to set up a potential game-tying possession with 20 seconds remaining.
 
The Golden Eagles did get a shot off, which went wide and out of bounds with 7.4 seconds remaining but could not get another shot in the waning moments as the ball went into a scrum as time expired.
 
Friday's statistics were as event as the score would have indicated.
 
The Mavs had a 41-40 edge in total shots as Brummett took eight while being held without a goal as his 28-game goal-scoring streak dating back to 2023 was stopped.  He did assist on the first of Jensen's two second quarter as Smith, Jensen and Pless combined for 16 shots.
 
CUI did finish with a 36-33 edge in groundballs and won 12 of the game's 19 faceoffs. Cade Poe won 11 of his 18 draws and scooped up eight groundballs
 
Shields, who had 20 saves in the first match-up against the Golden Eagles, was impressive again on Friday as Caden Hathaway also chipped in a big defensive effort with five groundballs and three caused turnovers.
 
The Mavericks have now won 17 straight home games since the 2021 RMAC Title game.
 
They will remain at home to host winless Adams State (0-3) next Thursday (Apr. 3) at 5 p.m. before heading to Salt Lake City to face Westminster on Sunday, Apr. 7.
 
CUI will play at Adams State this Sunday morning at 10 o'clock and will travel to Westminster on Apr. 12.