GRAND JUNCTION, Colo.— The Colorado Mesa University Maverick men's lacrosse team will look for an eighth tournament title and to duplicate their regular season divisional crown when they host the Peach Belt Conference Rocky Mountain Division Tournament this Thursday and Saturday at Community Hospital Unity Field.
 
The nation's 20^th-ranked Mavericks, who are 10-3 overall, are the top seed and will host No. 4 seed Dominican University of California in the second semifinal at 7 p.m. on Thursday night.  No. 2 seed Concordia University Irvine will square off with No. 3 seed Westminster University in the first semifinal at 4 p.m.
 
The two winners will then meet in Saturday's 5 p.m. championship game with the winner of that game moving on to face the Peach Belt Division Tournament Champion next Friday (May 2) in the Southeastern United States with an automatic spot into the NCAA Division II Tournament on the line.
 
All of this weekend's games can be streamed on the RMAC Network via a paid subscription. Tickets can be purchased through the RMAC's ticketing platform.
 
Live statistics will also be available for every game.

All of the links can be found above.
 
Last Time Out
 
The Mavericks' regular season finale and Senior Day game was spoiled by visiting Westminster on Saturday as the Griffins claimed a 10-9 overtime win to end CMU's 6-game game overall winning streak and a 19-game home-field winning streak that had dated back to the 2021 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference title game, which Westminster won.
 
Connor Jensen recorded his sixth hat trick of the season to lead the Maverick offense while Shaden Shields made 13 saves at the defensive end.  Caden Hathaway, one of the Mavs' six seniors to be recognized before the game, matched a season and career-high with five groundballs and caused two turnovers.
 
The Mavs trailed 8-6 in the third quarter and 9-8 late in the third but sent the game into overtime thanks to an Erich Petersen goal off an assist from his brother Julius with 1:22 left.
 
The Mavs then won the opening face-off in overtime but could not convert as the Griffins' Duke DeVault scored the game-winner in transition just 1:03 into the extra period.
 
A full game recap can be seen here.
 
Title No. 8 and five in a row

Although this year's title is technically a Rocky Mountain Division title, it is the equivalent of previous Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference regular season titles.   The Mavs have now won eight RMAC regular season titles since the conference started sponsoring the sport in 2016.  The Mavs have now at least a share of the title in five straight years, sharing the title with Westminster in 2022 and 2024 while winning the 2021, 2023 and now 2025 crowns outright.
 
The Mavs also won the first three regular season titles from 2016-18.
 
The Mavs are now 60-7 all-time in RMAC play.
 
Seven is the number
 
The Mavericks are playing host to the post-season tournament for the seventh time this year and will be looking for their seventh tournament title. 
 
They are hosting it for the third straight year and will be looking for their fourth straight crown.
 
The Mavs have won five RMAC Tournament titles on their home field, doing so in 2016, 2017, 2018, 2023 and 2024.  The Mavs also won the 2022 title in Salt Lake City, Utah after splitting that year's regular season title with Westminster, who won the tournament crowns in 2019 and 2021.  There was no 2020 tournament due to COVID.
 
Lacrosse Junction
 
Grand Junction will be a hotbed of lacrosse this week as CMU is hosting both the Rocky Mountain Men's Division Tournament and the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Women's Tournament this weekend at Community Hospital Unity Field.  The women's tournament will be played on Friday & Sunday while the men take center stage on Thursday & Saturday.
 
This marks the first time in RMAC history that the same institution has hosted both tournaments.
 
CMU's women are also hosting for the first time in program history after winning a share of a second conference regular season title.
 
Additionally, Grand Valley Lacrosse is hosting their annual QuickStix youth tournament at Canyon View Park this weekend.

Maverick Head Coach Troy Moyer spoke about the week during this week's Media Scrum.
 
Weekly Honors
 
Caden Hathaway was named as the Rocky Mountain Division Defensive Player of the Week this week following his five groundball and two caused turnover effort against Westminster.  The Mavs have now won that award in each of the last four weeks and seven times overall.
 
Shaden Shields, who won it three times, started the string on Mar. 31 before faceoff specialists Mike Edwards (Apr. 7) and Cam Casados (Apr. 14) won it in the two previous weeks.  Shields was also recognized on Feb. 18 and Mar. 3 while Brady Porter claimed the Feb. 25 honor.
 
Two Mavericks have also won three total Offensive Player of the Week accolades this season.
 
Connor Jensen teamed with Porter to sweep the Feb. 25 awards while JJ Brummett was recognized on Mar. 3 alongside Shields and again on Mar. 24.
 
The Mavs' ten total awards led the division by a wide margin over CUI and Westminster, which both had four total honorees throughout the season.  Dominican swept the Mar. 17 awards with Luke Vando (Offensive) and Joshua Peavey (Defensive) claiming them.
 
Impressive Tournament History
 
The Mavericks have won their RMAC Tournament semifinal game in all eight years as either the No. 1 or 2 seed and have gone on to win six titles, posting an impressive 14-2 RMAC Tournament record.
 
The Mavs played Westminster in the final of the first seven tournaments from 2016-23 before taking down CUI in overtime to win last year's title after the No. 3 seed Golden Eagles upset Westminster in last year's semifinal at Community Hospital Unity Field.
 
Those two teams will meet again in this year's semifinal although CUI will be the No. 2 seed after winning both regular season meetings over the Griffins.
 
Jensen's Streak
 
Connor Jensen recorded his sixth hat trick of the season and extended his goal-scoring streak to all 12 games that he has played this season as he scored three goals to lead the Mavs' efforts last Saturday against Westminster.
 
Jensen has now put up back-to-back hat tricks and has moved into a tie for the team lead in goals with JJ Brummett.  Both men have 28 and are tied for second in the Rocky Mountain Division statistics, behind only Westminster's Sean Gragnola, who has 32.
 
Century Saver
 
Maverick sophomore Shaden Shields recorded 13 saves in Saturday's game and zoomed past the century mark for saves this season.  He now has 113 as the first Maverick goalie to go over 100 since Remi Reeves set the single-season school record of 161 in 2018.
 
He is just the fourth different Maverick to have surpassed the single-season milestone, something that has been accomplished seven total times in program history, including three times by Brad Brandenburg and twice by Reeves.  Zach Weaver also did so with 157 saves in 2015.
 
Shields leads the Rocky Mountain Division with his .566 save percentage and is second in saves per game (10.18), a mark that would put him fourth in CMU single-season history if the season were to end today.
 
Home Sweet Home
 
Although the Mavericks saw the end of several home-field winning streaks last Saturday, the Mavs have put up some impressive numbers at Community Hospital Unity Field.
 
The Mavs had won 19 straight home games overall and now have a 69-9 all-time record at home, good for a .885 winning percentage.
 
They are 15-1 at home (.938) with head coach Troy Moyer at the helm of the program.
 
Prior to last Saturday, CMU's last home loss was on May 8, 2021, when Westminster won the RMAC Tournament Championship game at the CHUF.
 
CMU had also not lost a regular season home game in more than five years, winning 20 straight such contests since falling to Rollins (Fla.) on Mar. 13, 2019.
 
CMU had also won 31 straight conference home games since Feb. 20, 2016, when falling to Westminster.
 
In the Polls
 
The Mavericks slipped to 20^th in this week's USILA NCAA Division II Poll (Week No. 11), which was released on Monday.  They had been 14^th in last week's poll.
 
CMU has been between No. 13 and 20 in all 13 editions of the poll this season, including the preseason.
 
CMU is the only team in the Rocky Mountain Division currently in or receiving votes in the poll.
 
Flagler from the Peach Belt Division, sits tenth in the poll, while Lander is just one spot out of the top 20 poll, receiving votes.  Montevallo also received one 20^th place vote in this week's poll.
 
The Mavs hold a win over Saint Leo, which is receiving votes, but have not played any of the other teams in the current top 20.
 
Top O and Top D
 
As one would somewhat expect considering their record, the Mavs lead the Rocky Mountain Division in both team offense and defense.
 
The Mavs have put up 193 goals in their 13  games, and pace the division with a 14.77 goal per game average, two more than Westminster's scoring average of 12.77, the second highest in the conference.
 
CMU has conceded just 112 goals, an average of 8.62 per game.  CUI ranks second in the division with an 8.77 per game mark.
 
On a national scale, the Mavs rank 12^th in both scoring offense and 12^th for scoring defense.  They rank ninth in the country for scoring margin (+6.15).
 
The Bench Boss
 
Troy Moyer is in his third season in charge of the Maverick program, promoted to the head coach role in the fall of 2022 after a brief stint as the interim head coach.   Moyer took over for former CMU Head Coach Vince Smith, who left the position for other opportunities outside of coaching.
 
Moyer had originally been hired as an assistant on Smith's staff for the 2018-19 season.
 
In his three seasons as a head coach, including 2025, Moyer has guided the Mavericks to a combined 39-9 (.813) record, including a 20-2 mark in RMAC games and a nearly flawless 15-1 record at home.  The Mavs have won both the RMAC Regular Season and Tournament titles in both seasons with Moyer in charge.
 
In his overall time with the Mavericks, Moyer has helped the program win four RMAC regular season titles and three tournament crowns.  The Mavs have gone a combined 79-23 (.775) in his now seven seasons with Moyer on the sidelines.
 
Moyer is 3-0 against Dominican, 5-0 against CUI and 5-2 against Westminster as a head coach.
 
Know Your Foe
 
After not visiting Grand Junction since 2014, the Penguins will play their second game at Community Hospital Unity Field in two weeks on Thursday night.
 
The Penguins fell 22-10 to the Mavs on Apr. 12 and then fell 17-8 to in-state divisional rival CUI last Saturday in Irvine to finish the regular season with a 2-9 overall record, including a 2-6 divisional mark.
 
Both of their wins have come over Adams State.
 
The Penguins are in their first year as associate members of the RMAC for men's lacrosse and their second year off a new varsity level stint after playing at the MCLA club level ranks from 2015-2023. 
 
Before that the Penguins were part of the Western Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association alongside the Mavs and had a quite intense rivalry.
 
Head Coach Bobby Grove's squad is led by Chase Pacenta, who has 26 goals, ten assists and 36 points to his credit, marks that lead the team in all three categories.  Jason Eide is second on the team with 17 goals while Tanner Ennis has chipped in 16.  Both have 25 points.
 
Defensively, Wyatt Anderson has 17 caused turnovers to lead the team and also chipped in 18 ground balls.
 
Nicholas Woodard is also a solid defensive presence and has 28 groundballs and ten caused turnovers.
 
Joshua Peavey and Ethan May are the Penguins' two primary face-off specialists.  Peavey has won 91 or 178 draws (.511) and leads the team with 46 groundballs.  May has a .450 success rate (58-129) and has scooped up 24 groundballs.
 
Tristan Hunter is their primary netminder and has played in all 11 of the Penguins' games, logging 575 minutes.  He has a 16.79 goals against average and .392 save percentage, having made 104 stops.  Cole Rutz has also played in six games and has recorded 14 saves, a .452 save percentage and 16.39 goals against average in just over 62 minutes of time.
 
Series Histories
 
The Mavs have defeated the Dominican Penguins early in each of the last three regular season meetings over the past two years and swept this year's season series, winning 16-5 on Feb. 17 in San Rafael, California before the 22-10 win just under two weeks ago.
 
The Mavs are 4-1 all-time at home against the Penguins, dropping only a Apr. 7, 2013 double overtime decision.
 
In the Western Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association era, the teams split eight match-ups 4-4 and four of the eight were decided by a single goal.  Many of those games decided the WILA titles, which CMU won in 2012 and 2015.  Dominican won the WILA crowns in 2013 and 2014 before dropping out of the league and NCAA Division II lacrosse prior to the 2015 campaign.

Related Item: WILA Wikipedia Page
 
Up Next
 
The tournament winner will head to the southeast to face whoever wins the Peach Belt Division tournament next Friday (May 2).  Lander is hosting the Peach Belt Division Tournament in Greenwood, South Carolina after winning that division's regular season title with a 14-9 win over Flagler this past Saturday. 
 
The winner of that game will receive an automatic spot in the NCAA Division II Tournament.  Sixteen teams, including eight from the South Region that the Rocky Mountain and Peach Belt Divisions are a part of will be selected and announced on Sunday, May 4.
 
The NCAA Tournament then begins on Wednesday, May 7.