GRAND JUNCTION, Colo.- In a high-stakes match with both teams' seasons on the line, the Colorado Mesa University men's soccer team lost a heartbreaker against the Westminster Griffins 3-2.
With this result, the Mavs conclude their season while the Griffins are the fifth seed in the RMAC Tournament and will travel to play UCCS in the first round.
The Griffins got the first shot of the game just before the eighth minute, but it was saved by Kenneth Linn.
However, the Mavs responded with two shots from Edoardo Oliveri and James Maxwell. The third shot proved to be the charm as Richie Tabares Ochoa gathered the ball from Maxwell's shot and found Oliveri, who put the Mavs in front.
The Griffins responded with two shots of their own, but both came up empty. The last chance of the half for the Mavs came from Afonso Taborda, whose shot went wide left.
The Griffins had two more chances at goal before the half, but nothing came to fruition.
However, the second half saw the Griffins go on the offensive right away. Linn had to fend off two saves, however the shots kept coming as Ishmael Mensah and Owen Gallo scored just two minutes apart from each other to take the lead 2-1.
The Mavs attempted to respond with a shot in the 64th minute from Conor Chilson, but it came up empty.
The Mavs searched for an equalizer and caught a massive break when they drew a penalty in the 81st minute. Tabares Ochoa buried the penalty kick to give the Mavs life.
With the game now tied, both teams looked for a winner as the physicality of the contest increased. Both teams were able to get shots off, but the Griffins found the winner with just two seconds left to book their ticket to the RMAC tournament.
Westminster outshot CMU 18-14 and will get a chance to make a deep push in the RMAC Tournament. Oliveri added his eighth goal of the season while Tabares Ochoa bookended his impressive season with a goal and an assist. Linn finished the evening with three saves.
The Mavs finish the 2026 season with an overall record of 4-4-9 and a conference record of 2-3-5. They will now head into the offseason with All-RMAC and Academic selections set to be released in the next few weeks.
