GRAND JUNCTION, Colo.— Fifteen different Mavericks scored as Jack Cooper and Dillon Pless combined for eight goals in a 22-5 blowout Colorado Mesa University men's lacrosse victory over visiting Adams State University on Thursday evening here at the Community Hospital Unity Field.
 
The nation's 20^th-ranked Mavericks scored 11 goals in the opening quarter and led 16-2 at the half as they improved to 7-2 overall while extending their Peach Belt Conference Rocky Mountain Division leading mark to 4-0.  The winless Grizzlies fell to 0-5 overall and in the division.
 
The teams agreed to have a running clock for the second half.
 
Cooper, a sophomore from Perth, Western Australia, had a career day, recording seven offensive points, tallying five goals and two assists.   He scored four of his goals in a span of just over ten minutes late in the third quarter and into the fourth after the Grizzlies had diminished what was a 17-2 Maverick lead to 17-5 with a 3-goal run in the third quarter.
 
Cooper had come into the game with just two goals this season and left with his first career hat trick.
 
Pless added three goals and a pair of assists record his first hat trick of the season while setting a new career-high with five points.
 
Eli Bibler also had a big game with a career-high five assists, the most for any Maverick this season.  His assist total was just one off the Mavs' single-game record of six set by Hunter Holcomb in last year's Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Tournament semifinals against the Grizzlies.
 
A.J. Clark, Stefan Dingbaum, Merrick Banning, Cole Skillington, Ben Kester and Dax Lambright were all amongst the Maverick goal scorers as well as each of those five young men scored their first goals of the season.  The markers were also the first of Clark, Skillington and Banning's collegiate careers.
 
CMU's three leading scorers in JJ Brummett, Logan Smith and Connor Jensen all scored in the first quarter as well but only saw periodic time throughout the rest of the game.
 
The Mavericks were able to pull their starters by the end of the first quarter as every healthy Maverick field player was able to see extended playing time.
 
Reserve goaltender Luke Parrish also made his first start of the campaign and made six saves in the opening three quarters before freshman Grant Brooker tallied two saves while holding the Grizzlies scoreless in the final quarter. 
 
Reigning Rocky Mountain Division Player of the Week Shaden Shields, CMU's regular starting goalkeeper, got the day off.
 
The Mavericks dominated every phase of the game, starting at the face-off mark, where the Mavs won 23 of the 29 draws.  Cam Casados, CMU's normal No. 3 face-off specialist, won 16 of his 21 while starter Mike Edwards went 7-for-8.  Casados also had seven groundballs as the Mavericks tallied 51 to the Grizzlies' 21.  Edwards scooped up four, scoring a goal right after one of those.
 
Thomas Perkins had three caused turnovers for the Mavs defensively while Charlie Droitsch added two while also recording a goal and two assists.
 
Seventeen of the Mavs' season-high 22 goals were assisted as the Mavs nicely executed their offensive sets throughout the evening.
 
The Mavs took 44 shots throughout the game and put 31 on target.  The Grizzlies managed just 19 shots, 13 of which tested the Maverick goalkeepers.
 
ASU did get two goals apiece from Danny Joy and Malik Maxwell and had four assisted goals.  Starting goalie Ryan Berger made four saves in the first half while Jamisen Blackwell tallied five in the second.
 
The Mavericks are now 33-0 all-time against the Grizzlies and have scored 20 or more goals in six of the last seven meetings.
 
The Mavericks, who extended their home winning streak to 18 straight games with Thursday's victory, will now be on the road for their next two, playing rival Westminster University in Salt Lake City, Utah on Sunday before heading to Alamosa, Colorado for next Wednesday's re-match with ASU.
 
The Mavs will play again at home on Apr. 12 against Dominican in their penultimate game of the regular season, which they will complete on Apr. 19 against Westminster before playing in the Rocky Mountain Division Tournament on Apr. 24.