GRAND JUNCTION, Colo.— The regionally and nationally-ranked Colorado Mesa University men's lacrosse team (10-3, 8-1 RMAC) will head to Salt Lake City, Utah hoping to claim at least a share of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference regular season title when the Mavericks take on the Concordia University Irvine Golden Eagles (8-6, 6-3 RMAC) in a neutral-site contest on Saturday morning.
 
The 10 a.m. game, moved up several hours from its original start time, will be played at Westminster University's Dumke Field, prior to the Griffins' 1 p.m. conference finale against Northwest Nazarene University.
 
Tickets for the doubleheader can be purchased through WU's ticketing platform.
 
The game can also be seen live with a subscription to the RMAC Network (more information below).
 
Live statistics can be found here.
 
Last Times Out
 
The Mavericks split their final two home games of the season last week, falling 15-13 in a nail-bitter against Westminster last Thursday (Apr. 9) before bouncing back for a massive 21-3 win over Northwest Nazarene last Saturday (Apr. 11) night.
 
Against Westminster, the Mavericks fought back from 12-9 down to tie the game at 12 and again at 13 with just 87 seconds remaining only to watch the Griffins score two goals in the final 30 seconds to claim the win and the advantage in the RMAC Tournament tie-breaking procedures.
 
Carson Points and Connor Jensen both delivered 5-point games while freshman attack Ari Villano also added a hat trick.
 
In Saturday's win over Northwest Nazarene, the Mavericks jumped out to an 6-0 lead after the opening quarter and lead 11-0 at the half.  They also scored eight fourth-quarter goals.
 
Villano had a season-high seven points with three goals and four assists while Jensen added a hat trick and five points.  Camdyn Moody and Jack Cooper also had two goal and four point efforts.
 
No-Contest "Win"
 
The Mavericks were slated to play another neutral site game on Thursday against Dominican University of California.  However, that game was called off after the Penguins made a coaching change and canceled the remainder of their season on Monday.
 
Under NCAA policies, the game is declared as a "no contest".
 
However, it is deemed to be a 6-0 forfeit win for the Mavs in the RMAC standings, which raised CMU's conference record to 8-1, good for a share of the RMAC lead with one game remaining.
 
Second Home
 
The Mavericks will likely call Salt Lake City their second home for the next ten days, playing as many as three games at Westminster's Dumke Field between now and Apr. 26.
 
If conference co-leading Westminster is able to win over Northwest Nazarene on Saturday afternoon, the Griffins would host next weekend's RMAC Tournament as the No. 1 seed by virtue of their tie-breaking advantage over the Mavs.
 
CMU would only earn the No. 1 seed and tournament hosting rights if they defeat CUI and get help from Northwest Nazarene, which lost to the Griffins at home by a 24-8 score at home on Mar. 21.
 
Title Decider
 
Although the Mavericks will need to get help to earn the right to host the RMAC Tournament, they can still secure what would be a sixth straight and ninth overall RMAC Regular Season Championship on their own accord by defeating CUI on Saturday morning.
 
A win in that game would give the Mavs at least a share of the RMAC title with a 9-1 record and force Westminster to win to earn the other half of the title.
 
Two of CMU's eight previous titles in 2022 and 2024 were also shared with the Griffins after they split regular-season games.
 
Westminster has just one outright title (2019) and no other team has ever won the RMAC regular season nor tournament titles.
 
11 is the Number
 
The Mavericks rank 11^th in the national statistics for both scoring offense and scoring defense.  They have scored 197 goals, an average of 15.15 per game, and have conceded just 108, an average of 8.31 per game.
 
That combination has the Mavericks ranked ninth in the country in scoring margin, winning games by an average of 6.85 goals per game.
 
Carson scores points
 
Maverick junior midfielder Carson Points has been delivering his last name this season, scoring 31 offensive points in 11 appearances this season.  He has had at least one point in ten of his 11 games this season, recording 23 in the last six games alone.
 
He has 11 goals and 12 assists in that stretch and has scored goals in six straight, seven of eight and nine of his 11 games this season.
 
He is third on the Maverick squad with his 31 total points and is second on the team with 16 assists.
 
Scoring Streak + Century Point
 
Connor Jensen, who leads the Mavericks with 35 total points, has racked up 18 in the Mavs' last four games.
 
In the process, Jensen went over the 100-point milestone for his career.  He has 102 and is just the 12th Maverick to ever have surpassed that milestone.
 
Jensen has also scored in all 11 of his appearances this season and has scored in 14 straight and 26 of his last 27 games over the past two seasons.
 
Three straight to take the lead
 
Maverick freshman attack Ari Villano has recorded three straight hat trick.  He now has six hat tricks this season and leads a group of four Mavericks with 20 or more goals, scoring 24.
 
In the Polls
 
The Mavericks sit 17^th in this week's edition (Week No. 10) of the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association's Division II Poll, released on Monday.
 
They have been ranked in all 11 editions of the top 20 poll, including the preseason, and have been just inside the top ten on three occasions.
 
The Mavs are the only RMAC team in the top 20 poll although Westminster is just outside of the poll in the No. 1 spot of the "also receiving votes" category.
 
Regional Rankings
 
The Mavericks are also the RMAC's only team included in the initial NCAA Regional Rankings, which were released for the first time this season in alphabetical order on Wednesday.  Future rankings will be published on the following two Wednesdays and will be in numerical order.
 
The regional rankings will eventually determine the ten teams from the South Region that will qualify for the NCAA Tournament.  A total of 12 teams were ranked in the initial rankings.
 
Coaching Corner
 
Troy Moyer, the reigning Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Coach of the Year, is in his fourth season in charge of the Maverick program.
 
He was 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 four seasons as a head coach, including the 2026 start, Moyer has guided the Mavericks to a combined 52-13 (.800) record, including a 27-3 mark (.900) in RMAC games and a stellar 22-2 (.917) record at home.  The Mavs have won both the RMAC Regular Season and Tournament titles in all three previous seasons with Moyer in charge and secured a NCAA Tournament bid last season.
 
In his overall time with the Mavericks, Moyer has helped the program win each of the last five RMAC regular season titles and four straight tournament crowns.  The Mavs have gone a combined 92-27 (.844) in his now eight seasons with Moyer on the sidelines.
 
Moyer is a 7-0 against CUI.
 
Know Your Foe
 
Concordia University Irvine enters Saturday's game with a 8-6 overall record and is in third place in the RMAC standings with a 6-3 conference record.  They are guaranteed of the No. 3 seed in next week's RMAC Tournament and have won three straight games, including their 18-8 win over Adams State on Thursday in Salt Lake City.
 
That game was tied at six before the Golden Eagles went on a 6-0 and 10-1 run over the final five minutes of the second quarter and throughout the third.
 
Matt Carresi had four goals and seven points in that win while Jack Lepore also added four goals while taking 16 shots, seven of which were on frame.
 
Jeremy Barnes leads the Griffins with 38 goals and has 55 points while Carresi leads the conference with 30 assists and 59 total points.  He has 29 goals.  Barnes is second in the conference for both goals and points.
 
Lepore has also chipped in 23 goals this season, while playing in just half (7) of the Golden Eagles' 14 games.
 
Defensively, Jake Cloutier has 13 caused turnovers while Drew Curren and Jackson Crocker have 12 each.    Cloutier also has 26 ground balls while Alex Torgesen has scooped up 31.
 
The Golden Eagles have been stellar at the faceoff dot, winning two thirds (274-411) of their draws to rank fourth in the country.  Dawson Loudermilk has won 69.5 percent (162-233) of his attempts and has 103 ground balls.  Cade Poe, a First Team All-RMAC selection last year, has also provided stellar secondary support, winning 77 of his 118 faceoffs (.653) while accumulating 52 ground balls.
 
Zande Coda and Brody Woods have split time in goal, putting up similar numbers.  Coda has made nine starts and has a .484 save percentage and 10.95 goals against average.  Woods has a slightly better 10.93 goals against average in five starts.  He has posted a .369 save percentage.
 
Series History
 
The Mavericks are 7-0 all-time against the Golden Eagles, including a 19-8 home win this year on Mar. 22.
 
The Mavs have won the last two RMAC Tournament title games over CUI, claiming a 13-12 overtime win before winning 15-6 in last year's title game. 
 
The Mavs are 1-0 against the Golden Eagles on a neutral field, winning their 2025 season-opener by a 13-8 score on Feb. 15, 2025 in San Rafael, California.
 
Five of the previous seven meetings have been at home.  CMU has played in Irvine, just once.
 
Click here to read the full recap of that game.
 
RMAC Network News
 
All of the Mavs' home and RMAC road games this season including Thursday's game, will be streamed on the RMAC Network, which has moved to a pay-per-view model for the 2025-26 season.  This season, all RMAC athletic events broadcast by its 15 full-member institutions and associate members will only be available for purchase via a single-game pass or a monthly or annual subscription. Revenue generated by the network will be redistributed to the league's membership to enhance their programs.
 
RMAC fans can purchase monthly and annual subscriptions that will provide them with access to all regular-season, championship, and archived broadcasts on the RMAC Network. A monthly subscription costs $25, and an annual subscription costs $130. Single-game passes are available for $10, which grants access to a single game for 24 hours.
 
Additionally, a discounted annual subscription price will be available to students, faculty, and staff of each member institution throughout the year. Purchasing options and pricing for individual RMAC Championships will be announced closer to each event.
 
Up Next
 
The Mavericks will play in next week's RMAC Tournament and will be either the No. 1 or No. 2 seed.  If they are the No. 1 seed, they would host the tournament and will play No. 4 seed Northwest Nazarene in next Friday's (Apr. 24) semifinal round.  If they are the No. 2 seed, Westminster would be hosting the tournament in Salt Lake City.  In that scenario, the Mavs would take on CUI for the second straight game in the semifinals.