GRAND JUNCTION, Colo.— The Colorado Mesa University men's lacrosse team moved to 9-0 all-time in tournament semifinals as the nation's 20^th-ranked and top-seeded Mavericks dispatched of No. 4 seed Dominican University of California by a 22-7 count in the Peach Belt Conference Rocky Mountain Division Tournament on Thursday night here at Community Hospital Unity Field.
 
The Mavs, now 11-3 overall, held a narrow 4-3 lead after the first quarter but outscored the Penguins 18-4 the rest of the way to reach the title game for the ninth straight time since the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference started sponsoring the sport in 2016.
 
Their 22 goals matched a season-high and came from the sticks of 13 different players.
 
The Mavs, who have won six RMAC Tournament titles, will face No. 2 seed Concordia University Irvine for the second straight year in Saturday's evening championship game after the Golden Eagles came from behind to defeat No. 3 seed Westminster, 13-12 in overtime in the first game of the day.
 
In the nightcap, freshman Charlie Droitsch, Deuce Kirschke and Dillon Pless all recorded hat tricks while JJ Brummett finished with two goals and a game-high four assists.  Erich Petersen, who had three assists, and Jack Cooper also chipped in two goals a piece as the Mavs took down the Penguins for the third time this season, including the second time in 12 days.
 
Connor Coulson, Stefan Dingbaum, Ryan Garcia, Nik Moore, Carson Points, Caleb Schreiber and Logan Smith all came off the bench to score as well.
 
Defensively, Shaden Shields made 12 saves in the complete game win as the Mavericks recorded a season-high 17 caused turnovers.  The Penguins were guilty of 26 overall.
 
Caden Hathaway led the effort with a monster total of eight groundballs, surpassing his former career-high by three.  He was one of five Maverick starters with two caused turnovers.

Tanner Ennis scored three goals to pace the Penguins while Chase Pacenta added two. 
 
The visitors, who hail from San Rafael, California, were making their post-season debut as new members of the conference.
 
Pacenta, named as the division's freshman of the year earlier in the day, scored the opening goal just 45 seconds into the game before the Mavs scored the next four, a run book-ended by Cooper goals.
 
However, Joshua Peavey scooped and scored on the ensuing faceoff before Pacenta made it a 4-3 game with just 13 seconds remaining in the first quarter.
 
The Mavs then scored three goals in the first five minutes of the second stanza to build a 7-3 lead before Tanner Ennis and Jason Eide answered for the Penguins, who closed to within 7-5 with 8:06 left in the period.
 
The Mavs then terrorized the Penguins the rest of the way, adding three goals in a span of just 1:25 to build a 10-5 lead at the half.
 
The Mavs then scored four more goals in the third period and racked up eight in the last quarter as a multitude of Maverick reserves got lots of playing time to rest the starters for Saturday evening's tournament final.
 
Both teams won 16 faceoffs as the Mavericks' Kanyan Rhodes went 11-for-19 off the bench, often dueling with Peavey, who won 12 of his 20 draws for DUC.  Peavey and Wyatt Anderson finished with five groundballs each for the Penguins while Cadel Velazquez had six groundballs and two caused turnovers to lead their defense.
 
Tristan Hunter went the distance in net for the visitors, making 12 stops.
 
Saturday's championship game will begin at 5 p.m.  The winner will move on to face either Lander or Flagler next Friday as those two teams, the top two seeds in the Peach Belt Division, won their respective division semifinals on Thursday in Greenwood, South Carolina.